Delightful To Know You, Hildy
by Maddz Writes
Summary: When Hildy receives a suspicious letter, it takes her and Grim to the Jollywood Arcade, where they spot Shapeshifter and his "gang". Shapeshifter wants Hildy to join in. However, Hildy is uncertain on what to do. Hildy begins to care for Queen Delightful, and she doesn't want to hurt her, but she also doesn't want to seem pathetic, so with much discomfort, she goes along with him.
1. Anonymous

**Sequel to: Happy To Know You, Grumpy.**

 **This story will contain Humpy Moments, Jolly Royals Moments, and maybe a few others.**

 **This story will be much longer than the first one; but you should still read that one if you haven't already, because you'll miss key points.**

 **Just a small warning: There will be a little bit of gore, but not enough for me to place this in "Mature" section. I'm just saying that beforehand in case anyone is squeamish, but trust me, it's not bad at all. The biggest amount of "gore" would be a bloody nose, lol.**

* * *

It's the beginning of Summer, the sun gleamed brightly, practically burning the ground to crisp. Everyone in Jollywood were playing outside, either picking up flowers at the Jollywood park, or swimming in pools or beaches.

The 7D were hanging out at the beach. Sneezy, Dopey and Bashful were building sandcastles, Sleepy was snoozing on a lounge chair next to a relaxed Doc. Doc had on sunglasses and he held a tiny smile. Happy was sitting on the sand, holding his usual shimmering smile as he began strumming his guitar.

"Ooooh~ It's a beautiful day in Jollywood!  
A wonderful day indeed!  
Children are happy  
And every dwarf's smiling  
Yes- it's a wonderful day indeed!"

Happy looked over at his three friends playing around in the sand. He walked over to them, peeking upon their sandcastles. "Whatcha guys doin'?" He asked.

Sneezy peered up at Happy for split second, before returning his gaze back to the sandcastle he was working on. "We're seeing who can build the best sandcastle! Who do you think'll build the best?"

Happy shrugged, believing all of their castles would be wonderful. "I'm not sure." Happy smiled.

Bashful giggled shyly. "I'm almost done!" He proclaimed.

Suddenly, Sneezy's nose jerked up slightly. "Ahhh-ahhh-ACHOOO!" He sneezed his sandcastle down by accident. "Oh no!" Sneezy cried, looking down at his destroyed castle with disappointment.

Bashful felt bad for his poor friend. Bashful poked Sneezy shoulder. "Watch this." Bashful said, as he sprung up on his feet. He then began kicking his half-way finished castle to the ground. Sneezy began laughing, before joining in on the fun, Bashful and Sneezy laughed together in harmony.

Dopey, however, finished his masterpiece of a castle. Dopey slowly stood up as he whistled, telling everyone he was done. Everyone glanced down at his castle, impressed 'oohs' and 'ahhs' escaped the 5D's lips.

Doc took off his sunglasses to take a peek at

Dopey's castle. "Fascinating!" He whispered to himself, walking over to it.

"That's amazing Dopey!" Sleepy praised, staring at the detailed castle. The sandcastle was identical to the Queen's castle. The castle had the same red rooftops along with the blue tinted windows- except the sandcastle didn't actually have color. There was even a moat around it! Dopey smiled and grabbed a bucket, carefully pouring water into the moat, just to add a hint more of that realism.

"NO ONE should vandalize this piece of work!" Bashful said, glorifying a statue of sand.

"Yeah! It really is good! Hey Grumpy, check out Dopey's...-" Happy twisted his neck to find Grumpy, but he was no where near them! "Grumpy?" He asked in worry.

Doc also turned around. "He was here just a minute ago. He's probably inside complaining unnecessarily rude or trying to find some cheese." Doc stated, gesturing towards the large beach house, crowded with other people.

"I'll get him." And with that, Happy entered the breezy beach house, waving around at all the dwarfs who bid him welcome, until he finally found Grumpy cleaning up a mess someone made on a black tabletop. "Uhh... Grumpy? What are you doing?"

Grumpy scrubbed the table angrily, practically tearing the paint off. "I'm cleaning this mess of a beach house. Seriously NO ONE cleans this place up! It's a dump!"

Happy giggled nervously as a few janitors shot insulted glares their way. Happy caught hold of Grumpy's hand, leaning in close, he murmured, "Grumpy... it's Summer break! Stop putting more stress on your life! Besides... we already had enough of that before Christmas."

Grumpy nodded, thinking back to Hildy sucking the joy out of everyone, becoming the Queen, and locking him along with Happy up in the Secret Shed. "Well... alright." He sighed.

"Yay!" Happy blurted cheerfully. "I wanted to show you a cool sandcastle Dopey made!" Happy pulled Grumpy, leading him back outside where the rest of the fellas were.

* * *

Deep in a dark dreary forest stood a large purple manor, the rooftops unnaturally slanted, and the colors eerie and creepy- the scary forest was a perfect surrounding for the matching manor. Inside that manor lived the Glooms- a gothic couple whom usually enjoyed harming Queenie-Bo-Beenie and basically everything that existed in Jollywood, but Hildy and her husband haven't been near Jollywood since Chirstmas!- which is indeed a big surprise.

Hildy lay in bed, an activity that recently became a habit. She stared out at the glass doors that lead to the balcony, where Hildy spied on the Jollywoodians. But today, Hildy merely wanted to stay in bed. She wasn't in the mood to get up and do anything.

Some emotion brought her to her feet. She groggily got out of bed and reached into her side drawer, opening it up, and took out a black spider-webbed choker, which also held a plum purple moon. She walked out to her bathroom, staring into the mirror, she cautiously clasped her choker on. She then smiled. Yes- her hair was a complete mess, and her eyes were bloodshot due to her lack of sleep- but she was smiling because she loved that choker. She thought the choker was purely... well...

Delightful.

Grim popped his head into the bathroom, scaring his wife. "HILDY! YOU'RE AWAKE!"

Hildy stared at him with fiery eyes. "YES! I'M AWAKE!" She growled. "DON'T startle me like that!"

"Sorry my diabolical darling. I was started to think you were sick." Grim apologized. He then pulled out a piece of folded paper from his jean pocket. "But I found this notey-thingy outside by our doorstep! It's from: Antamous!"

Hildy scrunched her eyebrows. "What?"

"An... Ah-uh... well, I can't really... I can't say that word..." He sputtered, rereading the signature about a thousand times. Hildy cringed as her husband's stuttering echoed in her ears. She snatched the letter out of his hands, much to his surprise.

 _Dear Hildy and Grim Gloom,_  
 _We hope you receive this letter soon. There is an important topic we must talk about. I know you are in deep understanding of said topic; but to keep it a secret I mustn't tell you what this about until you come here._  
 _Do not tell anyone about this letter. This stays between the group of us. Now- meet us all in the Jollywood arcade on Sunday around 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm. We'll be waiting. And remember:_  
 _Go Fish!_  
 _-Anonymous_

Hildy stared at the letter with bewilderment. "What? What is "Go Fish" supposed to mean?" She asked her dimwitted husband as they began wandering down the stairs. Grim shrugged.

"Don't ask me! I just found the letter."

Suddenly, the Crystal Ball's face appeared, overhearing their little conversation. "Hildy!" The Ball yelled a bit too loud. Hildy winced in annoyance. "You've finally went downstairs! It's been what... three months?"

Hildy shot the ball a look. She rolled her eyes, deciding not to yell. "Whatever." She retorted as she headed for the kitchen, but halted with a thought. She glanced down at the letter, than her eyes darted a gaze towards the ball. "Crystal..." She chanted, suddenly gaining enough energy to skip towards him. "Can you decipher this letter? I have NO idea who it's from, nor what the person is trying to tell me. And it's freaking me out!"

She placed the letter in front of the ball, allowing him to read it. He skimmed it pretty quickly. "Hmph. Well, whoever this is says "Go Fish" which means they possibly like playing card games... which is interesting..." He trailed off.

"Interesting?" Hildy titled her head, getting impatient. "Tell me what it MEANS!" Hildy wanted to yell at the Crystal Ball, but knew better.

"Ok-ok-ok, jeez... calm down witchy..." The Ball groaned. "It means some person wants you to enter their gang, or something. She wants to meet you at the Jollywood Arcade, at the table where you play Go Fish."

Hildy interrupted him. "How do you know it's a female?"

"Duh. Women are always the vague ones!" The Crystal Ball laughed at his own joke as if he was the most hilarious comedian ever to live.

Hildy glowered at the ball, her narrowed eyes threw daggers at him, nearly killing him. "YOU'RE THE REASON WHY I WAS ASLEEP FOR "3 MONTHS"!" Hildy yelled, mimicking the Crystal's voice when stating the time. The Crystal Ball merely rolled his eyes, stifling a chuckle.

"Anywho..." The Crystal Ball continued, "the person whom wrote this is trying to be sneaky. I'm not quite sure if it's clever or just plain dumb."

Everything remained silent for a while more as the Ball kept skimming over and over the letter; desperately trying to read between the lines and find more information about this odd letter.

"Well?" Hildy suddenly barked, ending the silence. "Should Grim and I go?"

"Sure why not." The Crystal replied, heedlessly.

"What is that supposed to mean?" She snapped.

"It means I don't care." He shot back. "It could be dangerous or it could be a really cool gang that gives you free candy or whatever."

Hildy raised one eyebrow. "Candy?"

"What? I have a soft spot for sweets. I guess you could say I'm a SUCKER." He laughed loudly, yet again.

Hildy rolled her eyes. "Shut up."

* * *

Hildy fixated her dress. She was wearing a long, midnight blue dress embedded with shimmering white gems. Fake gems nonetheless, but they were beautiful. She had on boots that almost touched her knee, but since the dress is so long, you couldn't tell either way. Hildy then slipped on matching colored gloves, long gloves that reached her elbow but didn't cover her fingers. She then put on a black glittery ring. When putting on her choker, however, she took her time. Her necklace breaking would be the worst thing she could ever imagine. The purple moon fell perfectly on the top of her dress.

Before Hildy headed downstairs, she took one last long gaze in the mirror. She certainly looked different. There was still gloom existent in her attire, but it was becoming less and less noticeable each day.

"Hildy my wildy? Are you done?" A shout was heard from below, causing Hildy to jump.

"Y-y-yes! I'm coming!" She rushed down the stairs and stood next to her nicely dressed husband. He too was wearing fancy clothes. He had on a grey suit on with grey dress pants. The corner of his suit had miniature light blue stars and moons; like his normal clothes. He also had a black tie. He smiled at Hildy.

"Hildy, my precious, you look frightening wonderful." Grim complimented, speaking in his baby voice.

Hildy blushed at this before returning the favor. "Awww, and you look scrumptiously terrifying too, Grimmy-Wimmy!"

The Crystal Ball gagged. "Get out here!" He heckled.

And with that, the door to the manor slammed as the Glooms zipped through the sky on their magic brooms, going to meet Anonymous!

* * *

Hildy and Grim entered the arcade. Grim interlinked his arm with Hildy's like he was an escort.

They began wandering around, not sure where they were headed, but found the card table anyway. Three people surrounded the table: The Gingerbread Witch, a large grizzly bear, and a man with a stubby beard.

Hildy and Grim glanced at each other simultaneously.

The Gingerbread Witch was the first to speak up. "Are you two Hildy and Grim?" She asked with a pointed finger.

Grim gulped as he nudged his wife. Hildy sighed. "Yes, we are. Why?" Hildy said sternly.

The Gingerbread Witch beamed approvingly. She crept over to them with that same smile. "Good." She said, not answering their question. "Then does this phrase sound familiar?" She leaned into their faces, Grim and Hildy could smell her disgusting breath. "Go Fish." She whispered, as suddenly a teal blue tail wrapped around Hildy and Grim, squeezing them together, tightly.

Hildy gasped in shock and Grim freaked out a little as the Gingerbread Witch transformed completely into a built teal man, with the same colored suit and a mischievous grin. "Shapeshifter?!" Hildy and Grim exclaimed in unison.

Shapeshifter carried them into a dark room in the corner of the Jollywood Arcade. Hildy and Grim were too scared to care; they had their mouth gaped in shock, widen eyes and they couldn't bring themselves to shout or mutter anything.

Shapeshifter slammed the door, locking it behind him as darkness enveloped everything. It was pitch black, and deathly quiet, until Shapeshifter dropped the couple, they landed harshly on the wooden floor.

"OUCH!" Hildy complained, rubbing her elbow.

The lights zapped on, and Hildy and Grim flinched, squeezing their eyes shut at the flashing lights. Their eyesight gradually came back, and Hildy squinted at what lay in front of her. There was an extensive steel table, with six grey chairs around it. In some of the seats sat a man with a long nose and a long white overcoat with corn yellow gloves. His hair was orange with white stripes flowing through it. He was scowling. The person sitting next to him was much smaller than him, and he had terrible posture. He has on a zaffre overcoat which looked more like a cape since it covered all of his body. Next to that man sat a little girl with golden curly hair. She was currently reading a book. She looked quite innocent with her gleaming childlike eyes and soft smile, but inside she was a demon.

Hildy and Grim continued to glance around, until they returned their gaze to face Shapeshifter.

The little girl looked up from the book she was reading. "Ugg! FINALLY! You caught them!" She whined, shattering Shapeshifter's eardrums. "I was about to burn this stupid arcade to the ground!" She giggled.

Hildy finally got on her feet. "Why are we here? What was that letter about? What is this room- and most importantly- WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE!?" Hildy screeched, adding more pain to Shapeshifter.

"QUIET!" Shapeshifter snapped, before smugly smiling again. "All your questions will be answered. Now- take a seat." He gestured towards the seats next to the little girl as Shapeshifter took his own seat next to the scrawny man with the eccentric hair. Hildy and Grim shared one last glance before Grim cautiously took a seat next to the insane girl. Hildy sat beside him.

Shapeshifter leaned against the desk, clasping his hands and intertwining his fingers together. Hildy just scowled at him. "Well? Answer my questions!"

Shapeshifter laughed. "You're just as rudely impatient as I remember you being!" Hildy was takenaback by this. She didn't know if it was a compliment or if he was merely messing with her.

"Calm down, darling." Shapeshifter cooed, as he got up from his chair and walked over to Hildy, touching her shoulders in a creepy way.

Hildy moved away. "Excuse me... I'm married, you freak."

"I'm just testing you. Anyway, I brought you two here because I'm intrigued with you two. I have a few questions of my own, actually."

"Well, what about?" Grim asked.

"About Queen Delightful."

Hildy straightened her back completely out at this. She avoided Shapeshifter's eyes and stared straight ahead of her at nothing in particular and began fiddling her thumbs.

The little girl cleared her throat as he glared up at Shapeshifter. "Are we just not important?" She quipped. Shapeshifter's eyes softened a bit.

"Oh. Yes." He muttered, obviously uninterested in introducing his company.

The girl beamed. "Thank you!" Her curls bounced freely as she jumped off her cold chair. She waved wildly over at Hildy and Grim, with the cruelest smile one could imagine, even her innocent looking eyes began turning evil. "Heya!~ My name's Goldilocks!" She squealed, enjoying the anxious expression plastered on Grim's face.

The two men behind her also greeted them. "And my name's Dr. Jinglehei...-" The man with the orange hair was cut off by the short guy next to him.

"And I'm Bingo!" Bingo yelled, causing Dr. J to wince.

"Why do you ALWAYS cut me off BINGO?" Dr Jingeheimer leaned into Bingo, nearly causing him to fall. Bingo gritted his teeth into a nervous smile.

"S-sorry master..." He replied, glumly.

Shapeshifter rolled his eyes, face palming himself in a very annoyed way. He didn't like those two, and didn't care much for Goldilocks. Goldilocks was very good at manipulating people and she certainly had evil blood flowing through her; but she was a loose canon and Shapeshifter found her sarcasm and remarks quite obnoxious. He hated how Goldilocks constantly wanted to be the leader. Shapeshifter was the leader. No one else.

And don't get him started on Dr J and Bingo. Bingo was incompetent and Dr J was hardly any better. The only reason Shapeshifter invited Dr J in was because he was decently intelligent and could create useful machines that could possibly held them.

Bingo just HAPPENED to tag along.

Shapeshifter didn't care about those three any more- his main attention was stuck on Hildy and Grim. He needed Hildy to join his gang. Hildy knew the most about the Queen. She knew her everyday schedule and Hildy even knew what a few of those 7D dorks did in their free time as well. Shapeshifter wanted to destroy Jollywood more than anything.

"Alright-alright enough dilly-dallying." He turned to face an anxious Hildy and secure Grim. "Hildy- I know you know the most about Jollywood. All of us want something from Jollywood." He said, walking back over to Hildy. Hildy stopped fiddling her thumbs and inhaled loudly, trying desperately not to freak out. She was sweating profoundly, but somehow managed to keep a poker face.

"Yeah!" Goldilocks butted into their conversation, "I want to KILL those pesky 7D!" She smiled wickedly.

"Yeah- yeah- and we want to use the Jollywoodians as slaves!" Bingo exclaimed right next to Dr. J's ear.

Dr J cringed before twisting around to face Bingo. "Oh gee, thanks Mr. IStealPeople'sThunder!"

Bingo doubled back sheepishly.

"And I want to finish off the Queen and Agent Bash." Shapeshifter beamed at the thought of Bashful's demise.

"Agent Bash?" Hildy questioned.

"BASHFUL!" Shapeshifter shouted.

Hildy chuckled in disbelief. "Yes, I know that. But I thought Bashful ended his "Agent Bash" thing after this Christmas."

Shapeshifter took a pause. "He has? Hmmph. That would explain why he hasn't been at the arcade for 3 months.." He paused to think for a bit. "That still doesn't mean I don't hate him."

Shapeshifter's eyes then landed on Hildy's dress. "You know Hildy... you certainly do look beautiful..."

"If you think a compliment will win me over- you'd better think otherwise!"

Shapeshifter frowned. "Why so stubborn?" His eyes then landed on her choker. Shapeshifter cackled. "Haha- who gave you that girly necklace?" He asked, pointing towards her choker in a mocking way.

Hildy clutched the plum moon design in her hand quickly. "Ooooh... uh, this ummm... G-Grim! Grim stole it at an jewelry store." She stammered.

Shapeshifter's lip swerved up to form a malicious grin. "Grim huh? That's really surprising." He rubbed his chin in thought.

Hildy jumped. She gritted her teeth as Grim glanced over in a confused yet elated gaze.

"Hildy? I didn't give you that...-" Shapeshifter cut him off, wrapped his bulky arm around Grim's neck, pulling him in closer.

"Hehe, Grim, you have me impressed." Shapeshifter chuckled menacingly before turning back to Hildy with a smug smile. "Join us -Hildy and Grim- and together we can defeat the Queen, along with Starchbottom and the rest of her measly pesty helpers: The 7D." He extended his arm out, waiting for her to shake his hand.

Hildy gulped as she continued to rub her necklace in a rhythmic motion, trying to calm herself. She gritted her teeth into a fake smile. Shapeshifter noticed her hesitation.

"Uhm, Hildy... don't you want to become the Queen?"

Hildy nodded slowly. "Uh-O-o-of course..." She murmured.

And then shook his hand, full of regret. Shapeshifter beamed.

"Delightful..." He muttered, causing Hildy to shiver all over.

* * *

 **((Hope you liked the first chapter! :)**

 **It took forever to plan out, mostly because I was unsure of how to start the plot. I didn't know how many characters to add. Hildy will be the most focused on, along with Queen Delightful and Happy and Grumpy. Agent Bash most likely won't be shown, sorry. ))**


	2. Isn't It Pleasant?

The 7D went home, back into their cozy clocktower cottage after a long day of swimming in the beach, yet again.

Grumpy was completely worn out. He hated the beach house, if it wasn't obvious enough. He decided to go into the kitchen and fetch some cheese.

Happy stared out the window, watching the view of the town. He smiled as he watched dwarfs run through the flowers and grassy fields, joy leaking out of them. As creepy as it was, watching people brought a smile to Happy. Especially people whom are happy in general.

Grumpy left the kitchen, munching on a roll of cheese until he noticed Happy's face smudged up to the window. Grumpy rolled his eyes in amusement. "Happy... stop being a weirdo. What are you even looking at anyway?"

Happy moved a smudge out of the way so Grumpy could glance outside as well. "Just look at everyone havin' fun!" He said, gleefully.

"So?"

"Isn't it pleasant?"

"No."

Happy shrugged, turning back to face the window and stare outside for a while more. Grumpy rolled his eyes as he finished up his cheese and sat on the couch, picking up a book about cheese.

Happy then had a sudden thought. Happy trailed his attention away from Jollywood and peered over at the forest, staring at the thicket as if Happy was hypnotized to gaze forever. "I wonder how Hildy's holding up." Happy randomly mumbled.

Grumpy abruptly looked up from his book. "What?" He asked.

"I wonder what Hildy's doin'." Happy repeated, continuously staring at the woods.

Grumpy appeared beside Happy, quickly closing the blinds. "No... no.. no... we're not doing this again. Hildy doesn't like us, therefore we don't like Hildy. Is it really that difficult to understand?"

Happy shrugged. "Well... maybe not for you. But I'm still worried. What if something bad happened to Hildy?"

"Good. I'm glad." Grumpy spat.

Happy gasped over exaggerated. "Grumpy!"

"I can say whatever I want. She's done so many awful things. I don't know why you still care about her. I mean- she left you in that cage to starve! Like, DIE! She would've killed you." Grumpy tried to persuade Happy that Hildy was no good.

Happy grabbed his guitar. "Hmm... well, maybe you're correct right now, but when I sing her this amazing song, we'll be best friends!" He squealed, hugging himself.

"Happy it doesn't work like th- wait... you're going over to Hildy's?" Grumpy paused. "Alone? It'd be dangerous if you went by yourself!"

Happy swatted his worries away like a bunch of gnats. "I won't be going alone."

"What do you mean?"

Happy stared at Grumpy for a while more, until his crabby friend finally got the hint.

"Oh no..." Grumpy murmured.

* * *

Hildy opened her door to be greeted to Happy strumming his guitar, and Grumpy standing next to him with a displeased look.

"Hello Hildy! It's Grumpy and Happy!  
Hello Hildy! How are you on this-"

"What are you two doing here?" Hildy screamed, automatically stopping their singing. She leaned in a bit closer to them, as if she was telling a secret. "You can't be here..." She whispered, as she glanced apprehensively behind the two dwarfs in total fright.

Grumpy began to turn around to see what Hildy was worried about, but didn't see anything. "Uhh, Hildy, are you sick?"

Hildy wanted to growl at them, but instead took a deep breath. "No. I'm fine. I appreciate your concern about me, really, but this is not the time..."

Grumpy crossed his arms. "I smell heavy amounts of sarcasm..."

Hildy scrunched her nose in disgust, but didn't yell at them. "Look, please go. You and the Queen and everyone over there are in danger!" Hildy said, as she pointed out to Jollywood. "You two can't go near my house anymore."

"But Hildy, we just wanted to...-" Happy tried to cheer her up.

"GET OUT!" Hildy snapped, slamming the door right in their noses. She locked the door behind herself, hoping the two heard the lock click, so they could get the idea she didn't want to see them. They did, and full of sadness, Happy and Grumpy went back home.

"All I wanted was for us to be friends..." Happy murmured quietly to himself as he left.

Grumpy took hold of Happy's hand. "Hap, let's go back home where the rest of the fellas await. Hildy isn't our real friend, but everyone else in Jollywood IS our friend, and that's all what matters."

Happy smiled shortly, but that grin eventually faded. Happy took one last glimpse at Hildy's home as they exited the forest. Inside the manor, Hildy was sitting on the ground, staring at her choker in pure despair.

* * *

In the Queen's castle, Queen Delightful had on a much different attire than usual. The extreme weather caused her to wear short black shorts and a pink spaghetti-strap shirt. She had on pink, glittering sandals, crystals were embedded into the fabric.

Lord Starchbottom wore a grey short-sleeved shirt with denim knee-length shorts. He held his green hat in his hand, fanning Queen Delightful as quickly as he could; which wasn't fast at all.

The attire was nothing close to "royalty", but despite that, Queen Delightful quite adored wearing regular clothes. She felt free and at ease.

Queen Delightful beamed up at Starchy with a crooked smile. "Starchbottom, thank you much for fanning me, but you shouldn't waste all your energy on me. You look like you're about to faint!" She said, expressing major concern for her adviser.

Starchy coughed in response. "W-what are you talking about, your Majesty? Really... I-I-I'm f-fine..." He suddenly brought his arms down in fatigue. He began panting abnormally loudly as sweat poured down his head, and he stumbled about, although he wasn't even walking. Queen Delightful started thinking he was sick.

"Oh no! Lord Starchbottom- don't tell me you've gotten sick!"

Starchbottom just waved off her remark. "No-no, I'm fine. I just need water." He panted, barely able to make out a word.

Queen Delightful started feeling better about her advisor's health, until that spirit vanished once she saw Starchbottom's knees wiggle till the point he fainted in front of her eyes.

She gasped. "Oh no!" She cried. "This is an emergency for the 7D!" She pulled the Bing-Bong Bell out on her balcony and the 7D entered in no time at all.

"HEIGH HO! THE 7D REPORTING FOR DUTY" They all shouted.

"What's wrong, your majesty?" Bashful asked.

Queen Delightful walked over an unconscious Starchbottom. "He's fainted from the terrible heat!"

Doc smiled widely as he jumped next to Starchbottom. "This gives me a chance to try out my new invention!" He proclaimed, proudly. "Presenting: The Whoomty Doopdy Smoodly Sprinkler!" He announced, boasting a little too much.

Doc took off his hat as he told everyone his invention name, and then reached deep into his green and blue striped hat, pulling out a large machine.

Yes, somehow that large machine could fit into that tiny dwarf size hat. Doc smiled as he gestured towards his machine. The machine was wide and had a medium-sized container filled with bubbling cold water. There were multiple knobs, one which led to a hose in which you could use the hose to spray everything everywhere, and the other sides had other entrances where they'd open and have water splash on you or just sprinkles. Hence the name "Sprinkler".

Doc moved the machine hastily, and then twisted the knob with no hesitation.

The water flew out on Starchbottom, immediately waking him up. He coughed at first, sputtering cool water everywhere until he finally got up. He sighed. "T-thank you Doc." His voice was raspy, but at least he was conscious.

"You know..." Starchbottom continued, "...that was extremely refreshing! I think we all could use our own... whatever that's called..."

"The Whoomty Doopdy Smoodly Sprinkler!" Doc corrected.

"The Whoomty Doopdy Smoodly Sprinkler!" Starchy repeated.

And everyone agreed to that. Every day got warmer and warmer till the point they could all melt! But then a solution floated through Queen Delightful's head. Her eyes lit up as she faced her friends, telling them her idea. "Maybe today could be Water Balloony Day!" She squealed. "It could be a very new mini-holiday created by me!"

Dopey whistled excitedly whereas the rest of the 7D nodded approvingly, they exchanged glanced all around the room, bringing happiness to one another. "I like that idea, your Highness!" Lord Starchbottom admitted, giving her a thumbs up.

Queen Delightful skipped out to her vast balcony to shout out her announcement to all the Jollywoodians. "Hello every dwarf! I'm here to today to create a new mini-holiday! Since it's so devastatingly hot- to revive the pain I've decided to call this day: Water Balloony Day!" She asserted, grabbing the Jollywoodian's attention almost automatically. "This day will be for pure enjoyment and for families and friends to bond together aaaaand... FIIIIIIIIIIIGGGHHHT!~" Her tone of voice changed into a sweet tone all the way to competitive and complete roughhousing. The Queen swiftly snatched water balloons ((from the middle of no where)) and began chucking them out at the townsfolk. Some balloons managed to hit people, whereas others were sly and quickly dodged out of the way.

The 7D and Starchbottom glared at each other with sinister, but playful glares and separated from each other faster than ever, grabbing water balloons of their own to challenge each other with...

TO THE DEATH!

But from afar, deep in the forest, little did the Jollywoodians know Hildy staring out upon them, spying on them. But not in a bad way. In an almost... daydreaming kind of way.

Hildy sighed. "Just look at everyone havin' fun..." She murmured in a distant, but relaxed tone.

The Crystal Ball sat beside her and he gazed up at her with worry-some eyes. "So?" He questioned.

"Isn't it pleasant?" Hildy didn't even realize she was saying such kind words.

"No." The Crystal Ball retorted.

Hildy shrugged. She continued surveying the townsfolk and the Queen. She watched as Queen Delightful threw water balloons at Lord Starchbottom; each water balloons splashed in his face, causing him to fall backwards. Queen Delightful chuckled a bit before helping him up. Starchy even laughed too, but just at Queen Delightful picked him up, he tricked her by throwing a water balloon at her face, bursting right on her. Refreshing water soaked her hair, but she merely laughed anyway.

Happy threw multiply balloons at Dopey, until Doc ran in the middle of their battlefield, and instead of hitting Dopey, the balloons burst on Doc instead.

Sir YipsALot was extremely grateful to have all this water by his paws. The soggy pup began yipping and rolling in the water, licking the floors dry.

All that exhilaration and bliss made Hildy want to propel to the castle herself, just to spend a little time having fun with the 7D and Queen Delightful.

Am I going soft for Queen Delightful..?

Hildy backed up from her spot on the balcony from this sudden realization. She then shook it off, believing that she wasn't going soft for the Queen; that she was just in love with her necklace. Hildy would never fall in love with anyone besides her husband; especially someone as yuckie-uckie as Miss. Priss.

"You aren't going soft for Queenie... are you?" The Crystal Ball interrupted her thoughts, as if he could read them.

Hildy glared burning holes straight through the Ball. The Ball giggled nervously. "Just kidding Hildy Wildly..." He paused. "Did I ever tell you that you... you certainly look beautiful?"

Hildy glanced back at the ball. "Are you flirting with me?"

The Crystal Ball rolled his eyes. "No. I was complimenting you, but thanks for appreciating it..." He mumbled, sarcastically.

Hildy gazed out at the townsfolk, their water balloon war was gradually coming to an end. Hildy smiled softly as she saw the Jollywoodians finish their giggles, hugging each other with mere captivation. They then began to pick up their belongings and hurry home; soaked from the fight, but still happy.

The Ball peered up at her choker. "Hey- uhh Hildy, where or... who- gave you that girly-err.. sparkly choker right there?" He asked her.

Hildy looked at him with confusion. "I thought I told you..."

The Ball's eyes widened but they returned to their normal size as soon as they did. He chuckled. "Well, you were napping for three months... so uh, I must've forgotten! So uh..."

Hildy scrunched her nose up. "Queen Delightful gave it to me as a Christmas gift."

The Ball's mouth gaped for a moment. "R-right... yes! Yeah, I remember now." He gave Hildy a short and sheepish smile.

Hildy shook her head to herself. Gee... is there something wrong with him today? She thought to herself.

Hildy decided to go back inside as well. She wanted to eat something. And so she left the Crystal Ball outside, holding that same fake smile. Hildy stomped down the stairs to hear laughing from Grim and another voice. She reached the bottom of the stairs and was disoriented by the sight.

The Crystal Ball was sitting right next to Grim, as if he was never on the balcony to begin with. "Hey Grim- Did you hear about the man who got hit in the head with a can of soda? HE WAS LUCKY IT WAS A SOFT DRINK!"

Grim and The Crystal Ball laughed powerfully in unison.

"CRYSTAL?! What are you doing down here?" Hildy screamed.

The Crystal Ball gazed over at Hildy. "What do you mean? I've been down here all day!"

Hildy's eyes widened. "Oh no..."

"What's wrong? Hildy... you're freaking me out..." Grim asked in concern. He walked over to her and intertwined his fingers with hers. "You alright my horrible honey?"

Hildy gasped. "GRIM! I-I-I think..." She paused. "Hold on a sec." She practically screamed, as she tore away from her husband's embrace, stumbling to get back to her balcony, and when she reached the top, she twisted to the area the Crystal was, but he had vanished. Hildy zoomed back downstairs, breathing heavily she told her husband: "I THINK HE WAS HERE!"

The Crystal's eyes squinted. "Who?" He squeaked.

"OH! You mean- ANTANOUMOUS!" Grim randomly shouted.

"Who is an ant?" The Crystal bombarded Hildy with questions.

Hildy gritted her teeth in both annoyance and frustration. She was scared for her well-being, along with Queen Delightful's. "SHAPESHIFTER!" She growled.

The Crystal Ball rolled his eyes. "Hildy, you're losing it. You're going stir crazy! You haven't been out of the house for a long while...-"

"I WAS OUT JUST YESTERDAY!"

"Look-look-look, listen to me. You might have went out to meet Shapeshifter and his dumb little gang for an hour... which isn't even a long time." The Crystal tried to reassure her. "You're imaging things that you don't want to see- you're feeling emotions you don't want to feel. You are stir crazy. Maybe you and Grim should go out together as one for a date, just enjoy yourselves. And you know... Hildy, I hate admitting this, but... you were much happier before Queen Delightful gave you that dumb necklace. I frankly don't understand why you wear it. You were wild and free; not afraid to do the extreme of things! You had fun with your attempts at becoming Queen... even if it did end up with many failures."

The Ball paused. "Why have you unexpectedly lost interest?"

Hildy took in a large breath, cautiously taking off her choker, she smiled down upon it with weary eyes. "I don't know..." She admitted.

"I really, really don't know..."

* * *

Goldilocks fixed her curls, groaning and sighing every five seconds. Where is he?! She shrieked in her mind.

Shapeshifter appeared behind her, and snapped his fingers to gain her attention. She jumped, startled at first, but then turned around to face him with a child-like grin. "Weeeellll... what'dya learn?" She scuffed her right shoe on the ground in a coy way.

"Her girly necklace was a gift from Lotta Glamour..."

"Who?"

"Queen Delightful!" He snapped.

"Gee..." Goldilocks pursed her lips in a fake pout, "why so ruuude? You know I got feelings too!"

"HAVE." Shapeshifter corrected. "And I don't care."

"Well, why'd Hildy lie?"

"Because she was scared, of course." Shapeshifter answered blatantly. "I think Queen Delightful is growing on Hildy... which is NOT good..."

"Hmmm..." Goldilocks murmured to no one in particular. "How we gunna change her mind?"

"Either 1. We destroy the necklace..." He muttered, "...or 2. we turn the 7D against HER."

"Those ideas are stupid." Goldilocks shot Shapeshifter a sly grin, pushing his buttons. "I betcha if I were leader; Hildy would be on our side in a heartbeat."

Shapeshifter cringed in annoyance. "Yeah? What ideas do you have?" He growled over at her.

Goldilocks laid back on a tree stump nonchalantly, resting her hands behind her head and crossing her legs together in a pestering way. "Ooooh... I can't say... rememba? I'm just a lil' GIRL in your eyes..."

"And that's all you will be." Shapeshifter retorted. "Anyway- we have to stay cautious though. I don't want Hildy knowing I'm stalking her every move. She's already getting paranoid. Stir craziness really dehumanizes a person."

There was a long pause as Goldilocks fluffed her hair up. Shapeshifter stared up at Hildy's manor and sighed.

"Will I still be able to kill those 7D?" Goldilocks broke the silence.

"Sure." He replied.

Shapeshifter enjoyed the forest. It was dark, spooky and made him feel brave, although there were basically no threats in the forest besides owls howling every few minutes. From above, stars twinkled as if they were hundreds of blinking golden eyes. Shapeshifter grinned, sighing in remedy.

"Isn't it pleasant?"

Goldilocks glanced at him with confusion. "Hmmm?"

"The forest. Isn't it pleasant?"

Goldilocks smiled while situating herself in a comfortable position. "Yeah." She nodded.

"It sure is."


	3. The Invitation

Lord Starchbottom was wearing his normal attire this day. The weather was calming down just a bit. It was still quite warm, but breezes would flow through the castle just enough to keep everyone feeling fine. Starchbottom was struggling with carrying a towering stack of papers, presumably letters and the royal mail. Queen Delightful sure did get a lot of mail.

He dropped the mail next to the Queen's throne, where Delightful was sitting. He groaned but looked up at the Queen with a smile. "Are you ready to look through the mail?"

Queen Delightful beamed. "Yayzies!" She picked up one letter but that smile turned to a frown. "Junk..." She muttered. She picked up another one. "Junk..." She repeated. She picked up one more, throwing it behind her with a large groan, until she decided to dive into the pile. She jumped off her throne, landing into the letters as if they were a tiny white swimming pool. "Watch me Lord Starchbottom!" She giggled.

Lord Starchbottom rolled his eyes. "I'm always watching over you, your majesty."

Queen Delightful stopped when seeing a letter that caught her eye. She picked it up and flicked it open. Reading it, she gasped.

"JOLLYPENDENCE DAY IS SOON!" She screeched. Lord Starchbottom flinched. "I almost forgot..." Queen Delightful said, pouting.

Lord Starchbottom mentally facepalmed. "Your highness, you didn't forget! We were literally talking about this yesterday!"

"We did?" Queen Delightful asked with a dumb founded expression.

 **FLASHBACK**

After a long day of tossing water balloons: "Queen Delightful, we need to discuss Jollypendence Day and what we're going to do for it."

"Uh-huh..." The Queen replied, only halfway listening as she took paper and began making origami for no reason at all.

"Well, I believe we should start with decorations, then food, and then the fireworks." Lord Starchbottom stated as he scribbled a checklist on his notepad. "Of course... we'll have to bake a cake as well... do you think the 7D could help us?"

"Sure..." The Queen heedlessly murmured as she finished the origami of a dog that looks similar to Sir YipsALot.

"And I'm going to the store to collect ingredients for said cake and decorations for said Jollypendence Day..." Lord Starchbottom whispered to himself, singing the words as they escaped his lips. "Is there anything you'd like at the store, your majesty?"

Queen Delightful jumped up on her feet, making Starchbottom jump back a bit, startled by her rapid movement. "LOOKIE AT WHAT I MADE STARCHY!" She said, pressing the origami Sir YipsALot against his face. "It's a lil' version of Sir YipsALot!"

"Yes... I see that..." Starchbottom replied, sarcastically.

 **FLASHBACK ENDS**

Queen Delightful chuckled to herself silently. "Ooooh... I remember!"

"Well, besides that weird and strangely realistic flashback... we really should get to discussing it... for real this time."

Queen Delightful nodded. "We should call the 7D for this!"

* * *

Behind the 7D's cottage, the 7D were having their own personal meeting. "Alright 7D Board Of Directors!" Doc announced as everyone sat around him. "Roll call!" He shouted as he slammed a hammer on a walnut, breaking the walnut and Dopey stole the walnut.

"Bed roll." Sleepy yawned.

"Jelly roll!" Bashful squeaked.

"Cheese roll." Grumpy's stomach growled. "No, really... I'm hungry..."

"Rock n' roll!" Happy gleamed.

"Sushi roll!" Sneezy sneezed.

"Steam roll!" Doc smiled as he smacked another walnut that Dopey, yet again, ate. "Ok, so we're all here, good! We need to help Queen Delightful with Jollypendence Day! She hasn't mentioned anything about it yet, which is strange, but I'm sure if we start planning we can talk to her about it the next time we see her. Alright, let's start with who's going to go what."

Doc placed a notepad out on the round table everyone sat at and began writing notes.

Happy gleefully grabbed his guitar. "I'll write the music!" He proclaimed.

"I'll set up the decorations!" Doc called dibs.

"I'll help you with them, if you want, Doc." Bashful shyly said.

"Aww I wanted to help with the decorations too..." Sneezy whined.

Dopey whistled to say he did too. Doc shrugged it off. "Don't worry fellas; we all can put up decorations!"

The 7D jumped up off their seats in happiness, ran around the table, and plopped back down in their original seats.

"Ok, I need someone to help set out the food and others to help bake the cake..."

"Sleepy and I'll set out the food!" Sneezy said.

"High four, Sneezeman!" Sleepy, who was sitting beside Sneezy, raised his hand in the air, giving Sneezy a "high-four".

"I guess I'll bake the cake." Grumpy smiled vaguely.

"And I'll help!" Happy shouted.

"Ok, so we have two people setting out the food... two people baking the cake... now we just need someone to fetch Giggleberries from the rarest of places."

"I'm not doing that ever again." Grumpy said, crossing his arms at his growling stomach.

Dopey whistled beside Doc, letting him know that he'd be glad to do it. Doc smiled. "Thanks Dopey! I appreciate it." Doc then glared over at Happy. "Don't eat as many as them this time, alright Hap?" Doc asked in a serious tone. Happy nodded widely.

"Now that leaves me with fireworks..." Doc gasped as he trailed off, his imaginations getting the best of him. He thought to himself all the amazing things he could do with fireworks.

Doc was never allowed to help with fireworks. Lord Starchbottom thought Doc would get too reckless with them. He was right to be cautious, but Doc was always bummed he could never help. But this year, Lord Starchbottom was giving him a chance to revive himself and prove he would stay relaxed and not go overboard with the firework extravaganza! It was time for Doc to prove himself worthy.

Doc's thoughts were interrupted when Bashful began snapping his fingers in front of his face. "Doc? You ok? You just... kind of stopped talking. It scared me." Bashful shivered.

Doc looked into Bashful's eyes. "Oh, yea. Sorry Bash."

Suddenly, a familiar ring was heard through Jollywood. It chimed over to the 7D, and they immediately stopped what they were doing.

"It's the Bing-Bong Bell!" Sleepy spoke.

"The Queen needs us!"

"To the castle!" Happy jumped. They all formed together into a large group, rushing to their underground tunnels to visit Queen Delightful.

* * *

The 7D emerged through the golden doors, they all shouted: "THE 7D REPORTING FOR DUTY!"

Sleep laughed, sharing a glance with Sneezy he whispered, "Doodie..."

"7D! I have called you all to talk about Jollypendence Day!"

Doc beamed as he pulled out his notepad, handing it over to Queen Delightful. "Funny you should mention it, we've already settled everything!"

Queen Delightful read the notepad, Starchbottom peered over her shoulder, also checking out Doc's writing. Queen Delightful scrunched her eyebrows, tilting her head and switching the position of the notepad in awkward angles.

"I'm sorry Doc... but we can't really read your handwriting..." Starchbottom muttered.

"Don't worry your majesty," Doc assured, his mechanical arms from his hat snatched the notepad out of her hand. "I know everything! We should get started today. Jollypendence Day is in three days!" He exclaimed in worry and horror they wouldn't get everything done on time.

"Yayzies!" Queen Delightful clapped. "Jollypendence Day montage!" She giggled. Grumpy groaned.

"Oh goodie..." He said sarcastically. "...this should be fun..."

 **MONTAGE TIME! :D :D :D ((Wow I'm having way too much fun with this chapter))**

Dopey traveled far to discover the Giggleberries. He wandered cautiously through the eerie forest, slipped and squashed through the muddy swamp, rode in the pouch of a wild kangaroo, and then finally climbed the tallest of trees to find the juiciest Giggleberries to ever exist! He grabbed the Giggleberries, picking them all of the branches and placing them in a woven basket, but then looked at how far away he was from town, and sighed, but suddenly perked up. He whistled, and in the same kangaroo hopped over to him, helping him get back home safely.

Everyone else buys the items they need; Sleepy and Sneezy bought the ingredients for the cake Happy and Grumpy would soon make, and Bashful took decorations out of boxes. They wouldn't set up the decorations until tomorrow, of course, but it's always good to get ready. Doc went to the store to contain all the fireworks he could possibly want. He bought all of them happily, and stumbled to the castle, dropping a few of them on the trail.

He finally made it to the castle and placed them on the ground with a large sigh. Queen Delightful skipped over to him, smiling. "Ooooh! I can't wait for the firework extravaganza! I know you'll plan out amazing things, Doc!"

Doc blushed, flattered. "Thank you! And believe me- you have NO IDEA how exited I AM for to start planning!" He laughed loudly and crazily, rushing over to a stack of papers, presumably his design and planning sheets.

"Queen Delightful!" Lord Starchbottom hurried over to her.

"Yes Starchy?"

Starchbottom had a few letters in his hand, but this time the letters were invitations to promote attention for the party. He separated the pile into halves and handed one half to Queen Delightful. "I have these invitations, and I thought we could spread the news all around town! Jollywood is gradually getting larger, so I thought this would be a cool idea."

Queen Delightful nodded. "Okey-Dokey!" She said childishly, and her and Starchy separated, heading for different areas of town to promote Jollypendence Day party!

* * *

Hildy groaned, rolling her eyes past her aching forehead as that same stupid band played that same obnoxious song they continued singing. She glared at the band on stage, they finally stopped, and took a bow as the live audience around them applauded. Hildy rubbed her temples. "Let's hope that the LAST TIME they sing that awful song..." She retorted to no one in particular, but Grim managed to hear her.

Grim slurped a strand of spaghetti before taking a gaze towards his frustrated wife. "Hm?"

"I HATE this. Why did the Crystal Ball suggest for us to go out to a fancy restaurant, for a dumb date..." She slouched her shoulders.

Grim tilted his head in confusion. "But I thought you loved this place, Hildy my Wildy?"

HIldy shrugged. "Yes... I used to I guess. Now the food's bland, the stupid band places that same terrible song over and over again; and it's too gloomy for my taste."

Her eyes suddenly popped open, realizing exactly what came out of her mouth. Grim has a similar expression. "You don't like gloomy things anymore?" Grim asked, puzzled. "Hildy... you're insane!"

Hildy growled. "WHY ARE YOU and THE CRYSTAL BALL sooooo CONTROLLING!?" She yelled, causing a few people eating around her to stare at her inelegantly.

Hildy noticed a few burning glares and smiled sheepishly, automatically trying to calm down. "I'm sorry." Her tone of voice became apologetic.

Grim's expression just kept getting more bewildered. Did Hildy just apologize to me?

Hildy noticed a flash of light red robe and a tall crown walking her way. She looked up and saw Queen Delightful walking in the restaurant, handing out invitations. Hildy gasped, standing up as if on instinct, causing the chair to squeak a little. Hildy then grabbed her husband's hand as he was slurping up the last of his spaghetti.

"Whoa, Hildy, we didn't even pay..."

"I don't care." Hildy said, trying to leave the gloomtastic restaurant and head home immediately.

It was too late, though. Queen Delightful caught a glimpse of Hildy and squealed over-the-top. She zoomed over to Hildy before she could escape, and shoved a invitation into Hildy's face. Hildy gritted her teeth into a fake smile, taking a few paces back at Queen Delightful's sudden contact.

"H-hi... uh... it's kinda odd you're so happy to see your most hated enemy..." Hildy could barely make a word.

Queen Delightful continued to shove the envelop in Hildy's face. Hildy groaned, her headache getting worse. Hildy finally snatched the letter away from the Queen's grip. "Stop annoying me!"

Queen Delightful kept a nonchalant expression, until she saw the thing around Hildy's neck. She smiled widely, blushing a bit. "Do you like your choker, Hildy?"

Hildy's eyes widen as she clasped the choker in her hands. "Uh..." She said, peering down on it. "This thingy here? Oh.. well, I had nothing else to wear. I-I forgot you even gave this to me..." She quickly pulled the necklace off, faking she hated the thing, but deep inside was praying she didn't break it. "Grim, take it. I'm tired of wearing it."

Grim, standing behind the awkwardly, hesitated, but took the choker from Hildy's fingertips. Queen Delightful merely smiled. "I was going to say you looked delightful in it, Hildy."

Turning pink from anger, annoyance and being flustered, Hildy growled, "I didn't ask you Queenie-Bo-Beenie!" She then directed her attention to the invitation with ambiguous eyes. "What is this?" Hildy asked, gesturing towards to the envelope.

"Open it." Queen Delightful didn't answer.

Hildy shook her head, but tore it open anyway. She flicked open the folded paper, about to read it until Grim began babbling.

"Hey Hildy! That reminds the of the letter we received from Shape-" Hildy socked him in the stomach, causing him to take a pace back.

The paper was bright yellow, with a few alice blue and pretty pink small details around it. Hildy used to hate those three colors, but they were slowly beginning to grow on her. The paper read:

 **JOIN US AT THE QUEEN'S CASTLE TO CELEBRATE JOLLYPENDENCE DAY!**  
We'll have food, fireworks- and most importantly- FUN!  
From 5:30 to 12:00 this Thursday, aka: JOLLYPENDENCE DAY

Hildy scoffed and crumbled the invite in a miniature ball, tossing it right at Queen Delightful feet. Queen Delightful held a puzzled expression, mixed with sadness. "It was cute seeing you today, but Grim and I are busy all week. Take care." Hildy spat, yanking Grim over to the exit. Grim waved over to Queen Delightful with a cheesy smile, oblivious to the situation he just faced.

* * *

Hildy pushed up her door and gasped at the sight of Shapeshifter laying on her couch, ranting about something unethical to the Crystal Ball. "Shapeshifter?!" Hildy yelped.

Shapeshifter glanced over to her. "Oh, yeah Hildy. Was it ok for me to invite myself in? I hope you're not offended."

The Crystal Ball sighed with relief, glad Shapeshifter finally stopped their discussing on gambling, murder and a bunch of things he didn't pay attention to. Shapeshifter slithered his way over to Hildy, invading her space as he held out the invitations Queen Delightful was handing out. Hildy picked up the invitation. "Where'd you get this?"

"Lotta Glamor -and her skinny helper that kinda looks like a green bean- are placing them all around town. I just happened to see one my way over here... and wondered... maybe you could go over to the castle, and play a little trick on Doc and his firework extravaganza." He cackled, wickedly.

"How do you know about the fireworks?" Hildy questioned, crossing her arms.

"Honey, I'm SHAPESHIFTER. I can change into anything and listen to anyone."

Hildy's eyes widened, flashes of her telling the "Crystal Ball" about who gave her her choker whizzed through her mind. She nodded. "I know that..." She whispered, solemnly.

"Well... you gonna go?" Shapeshifter asked, taunting her by waving the invitation in a hypnotic pattern. Hildy snatched the paper from his grip, like she did with Queen Delightful. "I'll think about it!" She snapped.

He shrugged. "Well alrighty then." He was just about to leave until Hildy closed the door on him, blocking him from exiting.

"I just have one question to ask you before you go. How did you escape the cage Agent Bash locked you in?"

"I changed into a mouse and ran out through the cracks." He told her, bluntly.

Hildy laughed. "Really? That's it? There's no catch?"

"Nope. Now move." He practically carried her out of the way, even though it was just a little push, and left Hildy, still containing questions.


	4. Baking Disaster

"Jollypendence Day is tomorrow everybody!" Doc cried out to everyone fixing up the rest of the decorations.

"All we need now is the cake." Sneezy stated in a nasally-congested voice.

Doc looked over to Happy and Grumpy and handed them a list containing all the ingredients. "Go to the Cheese Shop. Mr. Airall has all the ingreidents you need to bake it!" He explained, and then they both headed out to bake the cake.

Once they arrived at Mr. Airall's shop, he greeted them will enthusiasm. "Hiya Grumpy, Happy!" He beamed, holding the kitchen door open for them to enter. "Here to bake the cake?"

"Yup!" Happy replied with a shining smile.

"Well, all the items you need are on the counter tops. Have fun baking." Mr. Airall said. He left for a split second, until he returned with a look of concern. "Uhh... you do know how to cook... right?"

Happy giggled and raised a hand. "I do!" He reassured.

Mr. Airall sighed in relief, smiled one last time, and then officially left the two to do what they had to do. Grumpy tore open the package containing the cake mix whilst Happy picked up a large, silver bowl and placed it next to Grumpy. Grumpy took out the mix which was contained in a plastic bag, and tried to tear it open, but the plastic seal was stuck tight together.

"Are there any scissors over...-" Grumpy began complaining, but suddenly stopped when the bag exploded right in his face. A gust of white powder flew in the air, falling over Grumpy's clothes and his face, his expression of surprise was also covered in white powder. Happy had scissors in his hand, and turned to hand them over to Grumpy before he stopped in his tracks trying to stifle a snicker.

"Still need the scissors?" Happy teased.

Happy couldn't stop his laughs. He began laughing loudly, so much he started crying. Grumpy scrunched his eyebrows at first, and then picked up an egg from the carton and threw it at Happy, expecting it to stop his laughter. The egg broke on Happy's chest, and Happy glanced down, staring at the eggshell and yolk on his shirt.

This meant war.

Happy grabbed hold of a cylinder of sprinkles and Grumpy picked up more eggs. Happy threw sprinkles in the air, causing them to falling everywhere and Grumpy tossed eggs everywhere, Happy dodging most of them. Boxes of baking powder and sugar fell of the counter tops, making an even bigger mess. Eventually, Grumpy and Happy were out of it. They both stumbled over to the bowl, trying to catch their breath. Grumpy looked around at the mess they made.

"We should probably clean this up..." He muttered.

Happy groaned. "Awh... but that'll be so boring..." He whined, somehow still holding that contagious grin.

Grumpy nodded. "Yeah, let's just make the cake and leave."

But before they could place anything in the bowl, Mr. Airall popped his head in the doorway. "Hey how's the cooking go...- WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING?!" He screamed, the image of his messy kitchen materializing in his mind.

Happy and Grumpy shared a glance. "Uhhh... baking?" Grumpy answered, although it sounded more like a question.

"YOU TWO AREN'T BAKING IN MY KITCHEN EVER AGAIN, UNTIL YOU CLEAN THIS UP!" He replied hastily, grabbing mops and cleaning supplies in the corner of the room and practically throwing them into Happy and Grumpy's arms.

Happy, whom just a second complained, smiled over to Grumpy. "This should be fun!" He gleamed, contradicting what he had said a second ago. Grumpy rolled his eyes and groaned.

"Yayyyy..." Grumpy retorted sarcastically.

* * *

The kitchen was soon back to normal, everything clean and shiny. The only thing that wasn't clean would be their flour stained clothes.

Happy was taking the cake out of the oven, Grumpy practically flew over to the delicious smelling cake. The aroma was powerful, and both Happy and Grumpy loved it.

Happy took it out and placed it on the counter tops, squealing with glee. "Yay! Decorating time!"  
Grumpy stood behind Happy, not really helping him decorate the cake. Instead, Grumpy would steal a few gumdrops when Happy wasn't looking. Happy reached to grab more gumdrops, but gasped when he didn't feel anything. Happy turned over to face Grumpy.

"Grumpy?"

Grumpy rolled his eyes and spat out the gumdrops into the kitchen sink. "How do you always know when I do something?"

"Because I'm magical...-"

"Forget I asked..." Grumpy cut his little fantasy short.

With the help of Mr. Airall, Happy and Grumpy managed to carry the scrumptious cake back to the castle. Happy was eager to see Queen Delightful's reaction.

Grumpy, on the other hand, was eager to take a shower.

They entered the castle, handing the cake to Queen Delightful. It was too large for them to carry and it started making their arms ache. Queen Delightful gazed upon the cake with clear satisfaction. "Wow! This cake looks yummy yummy in my tummy!" The Queen gushed, holding back the urge to shove her face into the brightly colored cake. "Great job as always 7D." She smiled up at them before her smile turned to a startled frown.

She stared at Happy and Grumpy's appearances. They were covered from head to toe in cake batter and other extra items. Sprinkles and candy were stuck in their beards. Happy seemed indifferent to the condition he was in. Grumpy, however, was itching for a shower. He kept wiping the mix of his clothes, only causing a bigger mess.

"Yeah... we've had better days..." Grumpy said, semi-sarcastically. "Can I please take a shower?"

Queen Delightful nodded, placing the cake in the kitchen fridge. "Of course, but because Lord Starchbottom is saving water, you two will have to take a shower together."

Happy and Grumpy turned a dark pink. "What?" They exclaimed in unison.

Queen Delightful replied with a laugh. "I'm only teasing." She joked, "I love seeing you two squirm."

* * *

 **Or was Delightful kidding? Mmmh... guess you'll have to figure out when Delightful To Know You, Hildy deleted scenes come out! ((Jk that's never happening))**

 **I KNOW THERE'S HUMPY MOMENTS LEFT AND RIGHT IN THIS CHAPTER, AND I KNOW THIS CHAPTER IS SHORT, I'M SORRY. I couldn't resist not writing a chapter about my lil babies.**

 **Of course, this won't be the only chapter containing Humpy moments, but probably one of the big ones. I just couldn't help myself. I can't get enough of these two.**

 **Next chapter will be exceedingly long. It might take me a long while to write it, so please be patient.**


	5. Changed For The Better

**JOIN US AT THE QUEEN'S CASTLE TO CELEBRATE JOLLYPENDENCE DAY!**  
We'll have food, fireworks- and most importantly- FUN!  
From 5:30 to 12:00 this Thursday, aka: JOLLYPENDENCE DAY

Hildy kept reading the pink invite, over and over. Hildy looked over at her ticking clock that hung on the wall, just next to her. She gaped at the time. It was 6:00; the party had already started. Did Hildy really reread the invitation for almost 40 minutes?

She sighed in defeat. Hildy wanted to go to the party, but not to wreck it.

To hang out with the Queen...

She slouched off her sofa and began pacing around the room for a while, before finally deciding to go. She climbed up the stairs, entered her bedroom, thankfully Grim wasn't in it. She dug in her desk drawer and found her wand. Rushing over to the bathroom, slamming the door, and locking it. She raised her shaky hand above her head, clutching onto her wand, she whispered something inaudible to herself, apparently a spell. Blue streaks of glittery light flew out of her wand. The streaks began wrapping around Hildy, spinning uncontrollably quick, until Hildy's outfit and appearance changed drastically.

Hildy put an disguising spell on herself. Her attire was completely different; her hair was now ravishingly long, and bright blonde. Her eyes were shamrock green. She had on an alice blue dress, with white flower decorations on the side. Her skin was a bit tanner, and she had on less makeup; only a bit of deep red lipstick and mascara. No eye shadow or blush. She also was holding a miniature purse that was the same color of her dress. Hildy stared at her new style in the mirror, a little bit surprised at how much she changed.

There was one minor flaw with the spell; it ended at midnight, meaning the entire outfit and her appearance will slowly fade away, exposing the true form of Hildy out to everyone. Hildy had to be quick and cautious.

Before leaving, she picked up her choker, and shoved it in her purse, zipping the purse up, and left the house without anyone knowing.

* * *

The party was taken outside. Dwarfs were cuddled in groups; some surrounded the BBQ, grabbing ribs, steak and salads, whereas others lay blankets and picnics on the ground, watching up at the sky, waiting for the fireworks, despite it being 6:00, hardly dark at all.

Queen Delightful currently sat alone on a white chair, eating a steak with green beans on the side. She scraped each little bean, and swallowed everything bite of steak, highly enjoying her meal. She then took a long gaze at the townsfolk wandering around the party, but noticed a few people getting really sweaty and impatient.

"Hey Happy!" She called out. Happy giddily hopped his way over to her.

"Yes, your majesty?" Happy asked, bowing to her.

She pointed out to a few cranky guests. "Some people are getting warm and angry... maybe you could sing them a sweet song to soothe them for a while? Just until we open up a couple of the refreshments and booths up."

Happy saluted, gripped on his guitar, ready to sing. "Don't worry your highness, I know how to cheer up grumpy people." And he skipped off to the front stage, gaining dwarf's attention immediately.

Queen Delightful wiped her forehead, feeling warm, and started empathizing with the irritated dwarfs. Thankfully, Lord Starchbottom opened up a few booths, selling toys, clothes, snacks and drinks! A few people were gaining their way over there to wait in line, so Queen Delightful headed over to the booth as well, but was stopped by a pretty girl with rich red lipstick and a beautiful frilly blue dress. The girl had two drinks in her hand. She stopped inches away from bumping into Queen Delightful, her green eyes widen just a bit before returning to normal size, as she pushed a strand of her blonde hair behind one ear.

"Oh, sorry Queen Delightful!" The girl giggled.

Queen Delightful tilted her head at the girl, staring for quite a while, gazing at every complexion the girl held. Awkward silence enveloped them for a few seconds before the girl forced a grin and shoved one of the drinks in the Queen's face.

"You look thirsty..." The girl said, "take this bubbly soda!"

Queen Delightful carefully took the soda from the girl, not blinking. The girl shuddered a bit before taking Queen Delightful's hand and directing her to her original seat. "Why don't we sit down? It's really hot out here today. It seems to be cooling down though, with the breezes. Don't cha think?"

"I don't think I've ever seen you before..." Queen Delightful murmured, ignoring everything the girl said. The girl laughed quietly.

"Oh yes, well, Jollywood is growing... gradually, but still. I saw the posters and invites everywhere... and well... one thing led to another." She said, pausing to take a sip of her water. Placing the cup back on the table, she raised her hand up at Queen Delightful's arm length. "My name's River Brooke Sea, but you can just call me... Brooke." She beamed.

Queen Delightful caught hold of Hildy's now tanned hand, shaking it. Queen Delightful smiled politely. "You're... not a dwarf..."

Hildy's disguised eyes darted up at the Queen's face. "Huh?"

"You're not a dwarf... over 95% of the population in Jollywood are dwarfs..."

Hildy waved off her suspicious wonders nonchalantly. "Who says we can't have diversity?"

Queen Delightful automatically nodded at this, agreeing with her and not meaning to sound rude. "I don't mean it in a bad way, it's just I've never seen you before. I know everyone in my town. You must be new here." The Queen paused to take a sip of her own drink. "I'm delighted to meet you."

They conversed for a long while, chatting about their lives. Hildy made up everything about herself, of course, and when listening to Queen Delightful's life, she nodded at everything, already knowing most about the Queen.

"I live here in this wonderful castle! I have little pets like Sir. YipsALot-" She pointed to a tiny fluffy white pup yipping at everything. "- and a nice parrot named Squire Peckington!" She gestured towards an exquisite and distinct bird with beautiful feather colors.

"I also have helpers whom help me! Most notably the 7D! There name's all relate to their personality. Happy, Grumpy, Doc, Bashful, Sleepy, Sneezy and Dopey!"

When hearing Bashful's name, he turned to face the Queen with flushing cheeks until realizing she was talking to someone new. Bashful tapped Doc's shoulder. "Doc, Queen Delightful is boasting about us!" He sighed dreamily, staring at Queen Delightful rambling.

Doc didn't care. "Ok? I don't see what's so great... I mean, she talks about us to everyone!"

Bashful gazed at the Queen with half-lidded eyes. Doc rolled his eyes at Bashful's lust. "Look Bashful- don't you think this crush on the Queen phase is getting really... old?"

Bashful jump a this. He twisted around. "Phase? Crush? I-I don't have a CRUSH on her... I LOVE her!"

Doc sighed. He knew he could never persuade Bashful into looking for other people, but he decided to try anyway. "Bashful. I know you've "loved" Queen Delightful for a while... but the harsh truth has come out. She doesn't like you the same way back. I'm sorry Bash, really, it's certainly unfortunate and I feel pity for you, but you should look all around at new people! There are plenty of fish in the sea." Doc placed a hand on Bashful's shoulder, but Bashful wouldn't budge.

"No. I've feasted my eyes on the Queen forever." He paused. "Besides- I don't even like fish..."

Doc facepalmed himself. "...that was a figure of speech..."

Bashful scrunched his nose in disgust, slightly insulted. "Whatever. I think I'm going to sing a song for Queen Delightful. Right now- in fact!"

Doc growled under his breath and Bashful skipped blissfully over to the stage, ready to sing his I Dig You song.

Starchbottom noticed Queen Delightful's new friend and decided to introduce himself.

He walked up behind Queen Delightful and cleared his throat. Queen Delightful twisted her neck around to face him. "Oh! Starchy! I was just talking about you to my new friend. Starchy- meet Brooke. Brooke- meet Stachbottom."

Starchbottom tipped his hat at the newcomer, and Hildy waved coyly.

Hildy was relieved that no one figured out who she really was yet, and she was glad she hadn't messed up. Hildy was afraid she would choke up, unable to speak to anyone at the party, nonetheless the Queen. But somehow, Hildy felt right next to her. Hildy and Queen Delightful may have been different in lots of ways, but slowly, Hildy was starting to understand her kindness and sympathy.

" _Oh I dig the way you walk_

 _I dig the sparkle in your eye_  
 _I dig the way you talk_  
 _Yeah but baby I'm just too shy to tell you_  
 _Baby I dig you~_ "

Queen Delightful stopped her conversation short, smiling widely over at Bashful and Happy onstage, singing a duet! She blushed as Bashful winked at her, but it eventually faded as she stood up. "Let's go watch the performance, Brooke!" Queen Delightful announced. She snatched Hildy's arm, hastily, running over to the stage.

Hildy laughed. "So... the green dwarf is Bashful..."

Queen Delightful glanced over to her. "How do you know that?"

"Uh um, lucky guess?" Hildy stammered. She rubbed the back of her neck, stumbling on her words. "He k-keeps blushing and half of his face is hidden. It's pretty obvious actually."

"Well... yes... Bashful has had a crush on me for a long time. He is pretty sweet but... I don't feel the same..."

"Oh."

"Do you have a crush on someone?" Queen Delightful whispered.

"No, I'm already married."

Queen Delightful sent a weird look Hildy's way. "Really? I thought you told me you were single!"

Hildy mentally cringed. "Uh- ENGAGED! Yes, that's right. Engaged..."

Queen Delightful shrugged and returned her booming brown eyes to face her lovable dwarfs. Her smile bloomed delight everywhere, and her eyes sparkled with happiness. Queen Delightful began swaying to the song, swinging her head from side-to-side cutely. She giggled. It was silent for quite a while.

"I want to show you something!" Queen Delightful, whom was getting closer to Hildy, grabbed her hand and pulled her over to the castle, entering one of the enterways. Hildy scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. Why were they leaving the party?

"Um... if you don't mind telling me... where are we going?" Hildy squeaked, her arm was practically pulled out of it's socket.

"I have this beautiful necklace I want to show you. I think you'll like it."

Hildy had no say in the matter, so she continued to stumble in the path Queen Delightful was taking her. They finally entered her bedroom. Queen Delightful let go of Hildy's tan wrist and giggled girly as she skipped over to her jewelry box. Clutching the pink box carefully in her hands, she jumped right into Hildy's face. "Are ya ready?"

Hildy rolled her eyes but still held a smile. "Just show me- I mean, come on, it's just necklace..."

Queen Delightful rolled her eyes playfully back. "Ok!" Her eyes shimmered, flicking open the wide top, what lay inside was definitely stranger than what Hildy expected.

Inside lay a black spider-webbed choker, the pattern identical to Hildy's, except instead of a purple plum moon there was an aureolin yellow glittering sun. Hildy gasped, her eyes widen. Queen Delightful didn't seem to notice her shocked state. "Isn't it wonderful?"

"I-uh... uhm..."

Queen Delightful's naive nature took over. "Speechless? YOU LOVE IT!" She squealed, closing the box hastily. "I had another one similar to it... but... it was a gift..." Queen Delightful paused, her eyes suddenly shone even brighter, as if she just remembered something. "I FORGOT ALL ABOUT HER!" She blared, causing Hildy to flinch.

"Forgot about who?" Hildy could barely speak.

"The girl I- the choker...- purple pink hair... Gloom...- UGH JUST FOLLOW ME!" Hildy was yanked yet again by a frantic Queen Delightful. Queen Delightful rushed back outside to the party, running around in circles widely, trying to find someone.

Hildy eventually got nervous. She tugged her hand off of Queen Delightful's grip. "Just tell me who you're searching for!"

"Hildy Gloom!" The Queen said, glancing around at the townsfolk, squinting into the crowd. Hildy caught hold Queen Delightful's hand and rested her back on the table they sat at together, chatting for hours.

"How about we relax?" Hildy inquired.

Queen Delightful nodded in the dark. It was close to 12:00, the fireworks were about to begin. "The firework extravaganza is coming." She smiled.

Hildy's eyes widened. No one could see. She gulped. "So... it's almost 12:00?"

"Yup!" The Queen answered, gazing up at the sky, waiting for the colorful fireworks. "They are going to be wonderful. Doc worked hard to make them perfect. You know... it's funny. Doc used to be so... reckless when it came to lighting firecrackers and crazy stuff like that. But- he's changed. Changed for the better. Isn't it funny how people just... change? Nothing can even happen to them, and they'd still transform into cherished, powerful people. It's difficult to do that... I believe. Especially if you have such an awful reputation. I guess anyone could understand on some level..."

Hildy stared at Queen Delightful. "S-sometimes... no matter how hard you try... you can never change..."

Queen Delightful glimpsed over at Hildy. "Maybe." She then looked down at Hildy's hands. "Your hands... they seem paler..."

Hildy jumped. Looking down at her hands, she placed them in her lap, sheepishly hiding them, and gritted her teeth into an abnormal smile. Queen Delightful tilted her head, puzzled. "It's probably just the night playing tricks on you..." Hildy lied.

Queen Delightful laughed. "It's fine." She assured. "It's great meeting you, Brooke."

Hildy nodded. "Same goes for you."

Doc wobbled up on stage, making an announcement. "Hello Jollywoodians! Happy Jollypendence Day! We celebrate our freedom from all our enemies, the day our founding father's joined as one, and brought the Rock of Sages together! Now everyone squat for the Jollywood pledge!"

Most of the dwarfs stood up and squatted, whereas a few didn't, but still paid attention. Happy walked up on stage, standing next to Doc he waved to everyone on stage. He then strummed on his guitar, getting ready to sing the pledge.

Hildy whispered over to the Queen. "I thought you sung."

"Oh- I let Happy sing this go around."

"Oh."

As Happy finished the pledge, everyone plopped back on the ground. Doc then continued his speech. "Thank you for coming. Now, get ready for the firework extravaganza!"

Everyone cheered, applauding with pure excitement. Hildy needed to leave. Each loud noise sent chills down her spine, whether they were intentional or not. She was getting anxious as the Jollywoodians whistled and clapped. The sound echoed through her throbbing head, her heart beating abnormally fast.

Flashbacks to Shapeshifter burst through her mind, testing with her insanity.

 _You're just as rudely impatient as I remember you being..._

 _All of us want something from Jollywood..._

 _Why so stubborn?_

 _Who gave you that girly necklace?_

 _delightful..._

The loud sound of fireworks flying into the midnight sky interrupted Hildy's thoughts. Hildy exhaled a breath she didn't realize she was holding, and glanced her weary eyes at Queen Delightful's back. She wanted Queen Delightful safe. Needed Queen Delightful to be safe.

Hildy reached out, squeezing Queen Delightful's soft hand to catch her attention. The Queen faced Hildy with an abrupt and startled movement. Hildy leaned in, right beside Queen Delightful's ear so no one else could eavesdrop on their conversation.

"You need to hear this: Your greatest enemy has returned and he could be anyone or anything. I'm telling you this because I care for you and love you. Be careful who you trust. There's a great danger lurking."

"Wha...?" Queen Delightful gaped, turning around to question "Brooke", but couldn't. The girl was far away from her sight. As the fireworks shot up through the sky, Queen Delightful chased after the mysterious girl with desperation.

"BROOKE! BROOKE! RIVER BROOKE SEA, NOOO!" The Queen wailed in emotional pain.

No one could hear the Queen's desperate cries. Once she chased after her, the fireworks boomed throughout the sky, spreading it's red, yellow, purple and blue colored beauty. Anyone far from Jollywood would be able to see the colorful night sky.

Queen Delightful ran back into the castle where Hildy went to escape. Queen Delightful wandered around a bit, unable to see her, until she saw a faint slither of blue vanish out the main entrance. Queen Delightful quickly zipped her way over to the door, forcing it open, and took large gasps.

Unfortunately, the Queen couldn't catch up to the girl. The Queen held her chest, it rose up and down as she caught her breath. Looking down, Queen Delightful then noticed the blue purse the girl had. She must've dropped it when leaving so sudden.

Queen Delightful picked it off the ground, and climbed down her stoop to glance around, hoping the girl wasn't far so she could return the purse to her. It was dead quiet where Delightful stood. She sighed in despair, clutching the blue purse. Queen Delightful knew the girl was long gone. She slouched up the stoop once again, opened the doors and solemnly headed back indoors. Queen Delightful not only missed the fireworks, but she also missed an opportunity of friendship. There must've been a reason for the girl's random departure; but Queen Delightful was quite confused. She had no ideas or thoughts on why the girl would warn her about her "greatest enemy".

Queen Delightful jumped when hearing the door near the party open. Lord Starchbottom entered, worried about his Queen. "Queen Delightful, are you alright?" He asked, shuffling his way over to her. "You left so suddenly... we had the fireworks and everything! What happened?"

Queen Delightful flung over to Lord Starchbottom, resting her head into his neck and wrapping her arms around his shoulders, she let herself cry. Starchbottom was perplexed by this contact. "Q-Queen Delightful?" He stammered, concerned. "W-why are y-you crying?"

She didn't respond for a minute, still holding tight until she let out one last sniffle. Lord Starchbottom was still bewildered and anxious, but he let Queen Delightful relax. He rubbed her back in rhythmic motions for a bit, until she finally pulled away. Looking into his eyes, she told him what happened.

"The young lady we met... Brooke... she left right when the fireworks started... and before she left... she whispered something peculiar in my ear. S-S-she said someone was out to get me... and she said she cared for me and loved me and she was telling this to me to protect me... but I didn't know what or WHO was out to get me... she just simply warned me. And now I'm scared..."

Lord Starchbottom was stuck in silence, still confused, but tried to figure out what to do. "H-hey..." He murmured, pulling her in for another embrace. "It's ok... nothing bad has happened. Maybe it was just a... misunderstanding..." They hugged it out for a bit.

Queen Delightful left his second embrace, pulling away she showed him the purse. "She dropped this purse, though. I found it by the front entrance."

Starchbottom looked into the Queen's eyes. "I'm sorry that happened. Some things just can't be explained..."

Queen Delightful nodded sadly. Her eyes lay transfixed on the floor. Eventually, she turned her attention towards the blue purse, curiosity piled on. "S-should... should I open this?" Queen Delightful asked her royal companion.

Starchbottom shrugged. "Sure..." He replied, not really confident. "I am curious to see what's inside..."

The Queen gulped. Placing a shaky hand on the zipper, her index finger and thumb wrapped limply around the clasp as if she truly didn't want to open it. Holding a breath, practically fainting, Queen Delightful quickly opened the bag, not wanting to feel fearful anticipation anymore. She didn't know why she was scared, but soon had a good reason. What lay inside was definitely stranger than what Queen Delightful expected.

Inside the purse lay Hildy's choker.


	6. The First Phase

Queen Delightful's gaze was glued to Hildy's choker. The Jollypendence Day party had been over with for hours. Lord Starchbottom and Queen Delightful couldn't sleep that night, they were too worried about Hildy's choker and all the events with Brooke beforehand.

Queen Delightful took out her own necklace from her jewelry box and placed it next to Hildy's, comparing and observing the similar designs. Hildy's had the purple moon, whereas Queen Delightful had a yellow sun.

It was funny. Purple and yellow are opposites on the color wheel, and the sun and moon were very different. Queen Delightful didn't comprehend this till now.

Did Brooke steal Hildy's choker... or was Brooke actually Hildy?

"Queen Delightful..." Starchy speech was slurred with fatigue, "...I know you're confused, and so am I. But it's extremely late. I'm exhausted. All this thinking will only tire us out more. Let's get some rest."

Queen Delightful didn't respond back. It's not that she didn't have enough energy to do so, or that she wasn't paying attention, because she was, she just didn't want to sleep. She couldn't sleep until she figured out this mystery. "Starchbottom?" She inquired out of the blue.

"Yes?" He mumbled, barely able to open his eyes.

"Who was Brooke really? She... she has Hildy's choker. And I remember when I showed... "Brooke" my own choker, she was speechless. Maybe she was stuck in shock. I don't know... "

Queen Delightful continued to stare at the two chokers. Lord Starchbottom rolled his eyes.

"But Brooke warned me about my "greatest enemy" and that my greatest enemy could be anyone or anything. They could be listening to me right now. If Hildy WAS Brooke, then was Hildy warning me about herself?"

"That doesn't make any sense..."

"I know." Queen Delightful retorted, a rare thing she never did. Her eyes suddenly softened at Lord Starchbottom's look of consternation. "I'm sorry... maybe you're right. Maybe I should get some rest." She apologized, but lied about the sleep part. Starchbottom was happy she finally decided to get some rest. He held a dazed smile and nodded.

"Goodnight, my Queen." He whispered, closing the door softly behind him.

"Goodnight Starchy..." Queen Delightful uttered vacantly.

She covered the blankets over her, the candle beside her was still lit. She didn't want to blow it out. She wasn't really going to sleep. She stared up at the grey ceiling, grey was how she began to feel.

Grey and emotionless.

Queen Delightful stayed in bed for a long while. She wanted to get out, leave the castle. But she didn't want to alarm Lord Starchbottom. She didn't know how long she waited, hours maybe, and then slipped out of bed. Scuffing on her fuzzy slippers and stealthy wrapped her white rope on. She picked up her and Hildy's chokers, shoved them in her oversized pockets that were conveniently on her robe, and picked up the plate the carried the melting candle.

Exiting the castle, she reticently sat down on her cool stoop, looking up at the sky, and seeing the moon. It was a waxing crescent- the first phase. Hildy's choker had a full moon, the last phase. **((i think it's the last phase. I'm too lazy to look this up. Let's just pretend in Jollywood, the last phase is a full moon))**

Queen Delightful kept staring at the moon, her thoughts bumbling into her mind. The correlation of Hildy symbolizing the moon and Queen Delightful representing the sun was cute. But also true, in a way.

Hildy was dark and secretive. Pale and misunderstood. Quiet, but stubborn. She never shone, unless someone shone on her.

And that someone was Queen Delightful.

Queen Delightful was alive and popular. Bright and optimistic. Talkative, but considerate. She always shone.

 _Maybe Hildy isn't the enemy. The Queen thought. I still don't know who the enemy is... neither do I truly know who Brooke is. But I will find who Brooke really is, and that begins with Hildy._

 _My little moon. Hildy._

This is just the first phase.

And then Queen Delightful headed back inside, getting some greatly desired sleep.

 **((This is my favorite chapter, despite it being the shortest. I literally just had the thought of Hildy being related to the moon and Queen D. relating to the sun a while ago. XD It works perfectly if you think about it.))**


	7. Lividly Blue

"You shouldn't have left without telling me!"

Hildy groaned, she rolled her eyes so high up into her head, it felt like her brain could burst at any second. Hildy would have had an easy night after warning Queen Delightful about Shapeshifter, had she not been caught.

Grim and The Crystal Ball shared a glance. Their eyes screamed with worried apprehension, Grim shivered a bit. Hildy had her arms resting on the dining table, heedlessly ignoring the little lecture she received.

"Hildy... why did you go to the Queen's castle?" Shapeshifter leaned closer to Hildy, invading her space. Hildy growled, standing up as if on instinct. "And where is that choker Queen Delightful gave you?"

Hildy stopped dead in her tracks. "It's right in my pur...-" Reaching for her side purse, she gulped when realizing it was missing.

"Look... I KNOW about your little relationship with the Queen. She gave you a choker as a GIFT and now you think you're all buddy-buddies."

Goldilocks rocked on the balls of her feet. She smirked smugly over to Dr. J and Bingo. "Smack her!"

Shapeshifter glared behind his shoulder, burning holes into Goldilocks' fair skin. "What?" He muttered.

"Give her what she deserves for hanging with dumb Queenie-Bo-Beenie!" Goldilocks chanted. "Smack her! Smack her! Smack her!"

Bingo was somehow "inspired" by Goldilocks' violent speech. He began shouting along with her. "Smack her! Smack her!"

"QUIET!" Shapeshifter silenced everyone, causing Goldilocks and Bingo to bounce back. He paused, then zipped his head to face Hildy once again. Hildy felt anxious. Would he really hit her?

Shapeshifter raised a fist, slamming it into Hildy's kitchen table. The side of the table split in half, splinters and tiny pieces of wood flew all around, landing on the ground underneath the table. He took a large deep breath, trying to keep his cool. His gaze returned to Hildy and with a nasty snarl, he asked her, "Hildy. I'll ask one more time. WHAT were you doing at the party? And why did you not tell ANYONE about your departure?"

Grim slowly ambled to his wife, protecting her. "H-hildy didn't do anything wrong... don't hurt her!"

"Is your name Hildy?" Shapeshifter retorted. "No! So move over!"

Grim flinched. He glanced over to his wife with worry-some eyes, hoping she had a good explanation. No one knew why she went to the party. She didn't tell anybody- not even her own husband!

"Shapeshifter... you wanted me to go to the party. So why is it such a big deal to you?"

"Because you never told me!" He yelled. "You were supposed to tell us! And for the record- I would have LIKED to go with you. I wanted to mess up Doc's fireworks with you." He paused.

"You did ruin the fireworks like I asked... right?"

"N-no... there wasn't enough time..." Hildy lied.

"Not enough time?" He stole a glance over at Grim. Grim smiled sheepishly as a response to his gaze. "When exactly did you leave for the party?"

"Uhh... I don't remember?" Hildy responded, although it sounded more like a question.

"Hmmph." He snorted. He relaxed his fists, placing his hands behind his back in a formal way as he headed towards the door to exit. Hildy pleaded in her mind, wanting him to leave immediately. Before he left, he looked behind his shoulder. "Goldilocks, Dr J and I will work together to come up with the first phase of our plan to kill Queen Delightful... and you WILL join us."

Goldilocks left with a giggle, Dr J and Bingo absent-mindedely stumbled out, and the door shut with a loud **_BAM!_**

* * *

Happy giddily slammed the door open, his smile wide as per usual, and he hopped his way over to the messy sofa, picking up random objects, making everything look nice and clean. Doc, whom was reading a newspaper, glanced up from it, sending a weird glare Happy's way. Happy didn't seem to notice. Happy swiftly picked up a duster, dusting all the walls, despite them hardly carrying any dust at all.

"Uh... Happy? You ok?" Doc stifled a snicker at Happy's beaming smile and strange attitude. Happy didn't turn around to face Doc, but merely continued dusting the exact same spot on the wall for a long time.

"Hehe, awwh nothing." Happy replied. "Just my parents are coming over and such."

Doc dropped his paper in excitement and shock. "YOUR PARENTS?!"

"Well yeah! Did I forgot to tell you..?"

"FORGOT? I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW YOU HAD PARENTS!" Doc practically shouted.

"Hehe..." Happy awkwardly laughed. "Well, uh... they aren't my REAL parents. Adopted. Adopted parents."

"Well we gotta clean this place up!" Doc declared, as he zoomed out into the kitchen, and as quick as a flash he returned, pushing a large wooden machine in front of him. "Cleaner-Upper should do the trick!" He announced, pushing a red button on the machine. The machine sprung to life, mechanical arms flung out of it, similar to Doc's hat, except there were a lot more arms. The arms held dusters, dusting pans, and cleaning spray. Doc smiled with glee. He rubbed his hands together in satisfaction.

"Wow Doc!" Happy's eyes were glistening, easily impressed. "That reminds me of those machines in that Cat In The Hat movie Mike Myers stared in!"

Grumpy gazed over at Happy as if he just insulted his whole ancestries. "NEVER mentioned that awful movie again..." Happy laughs at this.

The machine's work is done in 10 seconds flat. The machine returns to Doc, it's arms vanish back inside itself, and Doc pats the machine on the head as if it's some sort of dog. "Good boy. Who's a good boy? You are!"

Bashful chuckles to himself. "Doc is insane."

There's a knock heard on the door, waking Sleepy. Sleepy yawns loudly as Doc begins freaking out. "FIRST IMPRESSIONS ARE EVERYTHING! FIRST IMPRESSIONS ARE EVERYTHING!"

"Uh... Doc, uh, maybe you should relax in the kitchen for a bit." Happy says to him, but there is a slight pause. "A-actually... if you all don't mind... I'd actually prefer if all of you left for a bit. It's been a while since I've seen my parents, so I kinda wanna take it slow before I bombard them all with the knowledge of you guys... nothing against you... just...-"

Another knock was heard, this time abrupt and obnoxiously loud. Happy nervously chuckles, and the others decide to go into the kitchen.

"Alright. Well, hope everything goes smoothly." Doc replies with a sigh.

They all head into the kitchen. Grumpy gives Happy a thumbs up. "Don't worry about anything, Hap. They'll love you."

Happy gushes, before hearing the third knock. He zips towards the door. "Coming! Coming, coming, coming!" He hastily turns the knob, greeting his adopted parents after a long time.

His mother has tan skin with a sweet, soft miniature smile. It was a perfect size for her adorable figure. She's wearing a long coral pink colored dress. It's styled nicely. Underneath the dress are black boots. She has black hair that overlaps a side of her face, but when seeing Happy, she quickly wraps it behind one ear.

His father looks a bit different. Because of a rare condition called Purplimotimus **((fake disease, lol))** he has amethyst colored skin and lighter purple hair. His hair is pretty short. He's wearing a cyan shirt with black pants and black shoes.

"Hapsy!" His mother, Renata shrieks with joy. She pounces at him, squishing a large and disgustingly wet kiss on Happy's cheek. Happy smiles at his mother's look of joy, but bounces back a bit at her random kiss.

"Hi mother!" He exclaims back.

"You live here? Wow... how'd you get all the money to save up for something so roomy?" His father, Vincent, spoke next.

Happy waved his father's question off. "Oh no, no, no, I don't actually live alone! I'm a part of the 7D! Remember?"

His two parents stare at him with questioning eyes and puzzled expressions, obviously not getting the memo.

"The 7D? Grumpy?"

They stood still.

"Bashful? Doc? Sneezy? Sleepy?"

No response.

"...Dopey?"

Renata and Vincent glance at each other simultaneously.

"Did you not read any of the letters I sent you two?!" Happy asks in anguish.

Renata's eyes suddenly sparkled, as if she deciphered her son's question. "Oooh! We moved out of that cruddy house YEARS AGO!"

"Oh." Happy murmurs, feeling a bit vacant.

"But we would LOVE to meet em'! Where are those sweet little munchkins?" Vincent asks, slamming his hands together, making a low clapping sound.

Happy giggled. "Come out you guys!" He screamed towards the kitchen. The door opened and all Happy's friends greeted Happy's parents with open arms.

"H-hi..." Bashful squeaked shyly.

"Hi-ACHOOOO!" Sneezed Sneezy.

"Hiya." Sleepy waved, his eyes halfway open.

"How are ya?" Grumpy asked, munching on a cheese roll.

Dopey entered, waving his hands around with a cute smile. He whistled to say hello.

"It's nice to meet you!" Doc said, exiting last.

"Ahh, the kid with the flowerpot hat! What's his name... Grumpy, is it?" Vincent paused. "You used to talk about him a lot!"

Happy blushed. "Wha...? Uh what are you talking about?"

"Yeah! The few conversations we had with you on the tin can thingy revolved around Grumpy!"

Grumpy dropped his cheese. "What?"

"Y-you're mistaken!" Happy lied. "By "Grumpy" you mean "Sir. Gramps"! A character from a book series!"

Bashful cocked his head to the side. "Since when do you read books?"

"Since Doc introduced me to them!"

"I did?" Doc asked himself, nearly going insane.

"Yes! You probably forgot. It was a long time ago!" Happy explained.

"Oh."

It was silent for some time, the 7D were going through that awkward conversation in their minds for a few moments, before Bashful spoke up.

"Why don't we introduce your parents to Queen Delightful?" He broke the silence.

Happy highly liked that idea. "That's a great idea!" He exclaimed. "To the castle!"

"HEIGH-HO!" They all shouted in unison, as everyone rushed their way over to the Queen's castle.

Happy turned to face his parents. "That's what we say when we visit the Queen!"

Vincent and Renata shared a glance before happily bounding after the 7D, following their trail to the Queen's castle!

* * *

Queen Delightful has deep, grey lines underneath her eyes from lack of sleep. She yawned, and then slowly reached up for her sun choker she was currently wearing. She fingered the design, until the 7D knocked on the royal doors.

Queen Delightful groaned, her headache growing as every light sound flew through her ears. "Lord Starchbottom..." She mumbled, "...could please get that?"

Lord Starchbottom nodded, doing as he was told, he opened the door, greeting the 7D and two unfamiliar faces.

"It's just the 7D!" He shouted to her. "With... some two new dwarfs."

Queen Delightful's eyes lit up slightly when hearing this. "Well let them in, silly-willy!"

Lord Starchbottom nodded, allowing them to come inside. Happy jogged ahead of everyone, bowing to the Queen with common courtesy, and then introduced his family to her.

"Good day Queen Delightful! I brought my family along on this bright sunshiny day! Meet Renata and Vincent!" He exclaimed happily.

Queen Delightful tried to look cheery. She applauded as the two parents took a bow, but once they glanced back up at her, they finally got a good look at her.

She had large bags under her eyes, a slip of droll dribbled out the corner of her mouth and she didn't seem too elegant this day. Her head was heavy, her posture not great and her hair was disorganized. They gaped for a second before faking a smile so they didn't seem rude, but were interrupted but Grumpy. "Wow what happened to you, Queen Delightful? You look awful!"

Everyone shot a glare behind them with sour expressions. Grumpy stared ahead and shrugged. "What? Someone had to tell her!"

Bashful scoffed.

Queen Delightful sighed in sadness. "I knew you'd figure out something happened... you always do..." She sighed heavily. "I'm sorry I look terrible when your parents came over for the first time ever, Happy... I just..."

Happy's eyes enlarged. "Oh no- no- no! Don't apologize your highness! Everyone has bad days." He was quick to understand.

"I know." She muttered almost to herself. Doc walked over to her, placing a reassuring hand on her knee.

"Well, if you don't mind telling us, what IS wrong, your highness?" Doc asked.

Queen Delightful shared a short glance with Lord Starchbottom. Starchy nodded, as if he accepted her telling everyone about Hildy's choker and River Brooke Sea. Cutting to the chase, Queen D said, "After a wonderful night of partying and hanging out with the nice girl, River Brooke Sea, she left during the fireworks, leaving this behind..." Queen Delightful opened up her clutched hand, revealing the choker. Gasps and murmurs erupted from the 7D. Vincent's eyes sparkles as he stared mindlessly at the choker. Grumpy just happened to notice Vincent's lips swerve ever so menacing at the sight of the choker.

"Hildy's choker?!" Everyone screamed.

"What did you say her name was?" Vincent asked, continuing to stare at the choker.

"River Brooke Sea... well- and Hildy... but...-"

"Hmm. River Brooke Sea..." The purple man whispered whimsically to himself. "Thank you for that piece of information."

"What?" Grumpy asked, getting suspicious.

"Nothing..." Vincent retorted, scratching his arm awkwardly. His nails cut into his purple skin, making his arm look livid.

"I miss Brooke so much." Queen Delightful sighed, melodically. "She was so nice for the hours we talked. And she had Hildy's choker with her the entire time! It's so strange and I'm so stressed and that's why I haven't be able to sleep..." She admitted guiltily.

Doc shook his head. "Don't you worry Queen Delightful. It would keep me up as well. I'm... glad you told us." He told her, squeezing her hand.

Vincent kept staring at the choker for a while, until asking, "Do you mind... if I held that for a minute?"

Queen Delightful was perplexed at first, but reluctantly handed it over. "...sure..."

Vincent jangled the choker about, tossing it in both hands, as if he was weighing it. He rubbed the jeweled plum moon, ambiguously touching every detail. His next words surprised everyone:

"...I think I know who River Brooke Sea is..."

* * *

 **KNOCK**

 **KNOCK**

 **KNOCK**

Hildy peeked through the slither in her front door and opened it slowly with a gasp.

"Goldilocks? Dr. J?" She asked in shock.

Bingo hopped in the air with enthusiasm. "Don't forget about me!" He furiously waved his hand around.

"Oh yeah... _you_..." Hildy rolled her eyes. "What are you all doing here?"

Goldilocks scuffed her foot, her lips pursued in a guilty way. "We... we want to run away from Shapeshifter... and we know you do too."


	8. A Quest

I FORGOT TO MENTION THAT I DO NOT OWN VINCENT NOR RENATA! Both characters are owned by Mobox87 and was requested by meganf123456

* * *

"WHAT!? You DO?"

Back at the Queen's castle, the 7D, Queen Delightful and Lord Starchbottom full out screamed at Vincent. Vincent stumbled back a bit. He chuckled. "Well... yes... but-"

"You HAVE to take us there!" Doc exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Everyone else chanted.

"Where does she live?" Queen Delightful inquired.

"How pretty is she?" Bashful cooed.

"Does she like music?" Happy gleamed, picking up his guitar.

"Does she even LIKE dwarfs?" Grumpy asked harshly.

Renata glimpsed over at her husband with questioning eyes. "I had no idea you knew her either!"

Vincent looked stressed at the questions bombarded his way. "Look-look-look, I can explain but in order for me to find her, you have to take me to this Hildy-chick. Do you know where she lives?"

"Why yes!" Queen Delightful giggled with pure excitement. "We'll take you there right away."

Lord Starchbottom jumped in surprise. "Wait, really?"

"Yes really!" She beamed. "Don't you want to figure out who she is too?"

Starchy sighed. With a shrug he nodded as well. "Yeah, I guess so. Let's go find Hildy!"

* * *

Hildy clutched at the map, her fists compressing the paper and as her fingers loosened, she smoothed the wrinkles out, as if the map was her own stress ball.

"Are you sure that leaving town is ok?" Hildy asked as she peered behind her, the sight of Jollywood and her own home vanishing.

Goldilocks replied, "Don't even worry about it! I SWEAR to you this map leads to the best town imaginable; even better than Jollywood."

"Even better than Jollywood? Whoa." Hildy whispered.

"Much much better!" Goldilocks fibbed. "And you know what that means? You can start all over! You can learn better spells to take over THAT kingdom!"

"Does Shapeshifter know about this?"

"Shapeshifter isn't a part of this quest, now is he?" Goldilocks grinned a sinister smile. Hildy smiled back.

Grim was scarfing down a box of crackers he brought with them. He was also carrying a backpack with other supplies and the jokester himself: The Crystal Ball.

Hildy couldn't be seen in Jollywood anymore. It felt as if she was imprisoned there, every day of her measly life. She couldn't leave the house without a villager freaking out, believing that she would hurt them. It killed her inside that Queen Delightful would possibly be tricked in one of Shapeshifter's plans, but if she left early, it would cause him to have to create another plan. A plan that didn't involve her measly life. Besides, Queen Delightful was smart. She had the 7D! The 7D could solve any problem.

Hildy was officially leaving Jollywood.

Forever.

* * *

The 7D and the two Jolly Royals made it to Hildy's manor, greeted with a large surprise.

"SHE'S GONE?!" Everyone halted in anguish.

"...just in time..." Vincent whispered. No one noticed this small mutter except Grumpy.

"What was that?" Grumpy asked, staring straight into Vincent's beady little eyes.

Vincent shook off Grumpy's suspicions. "What was what?" He asked back. Grumpy stood in silence, wondering if what he just heard was real.

"Who is she running away from?" Lord Starchbottom thought out loud, staring at the now dark and empty manor.

"Maybe she's running from herself." Queen Delightful muttered.

"Look what I found!" Vincent caught everyone's attention as he held a map in his hand. "It's a map! Maybe if we follow it, we can track Hildy!"

"But... the trail is so long...it could take a day and a half just to find them. 34 hours to be exact." Doc said, calculating the time by the miles stated on the map.

"Yaysies! A quest!" Queen Delightful jumped with joy, clapping her hands together, causing Starchbottom to roll his eyes.

"Yeah... but who's going to rule the kingd...-" Grumpy tried to question but was cut short.

"LET'S GO EVERYONE!" Vincent demanded, leading the way, walking along side Happy and Queen Delightful. Grumpy growled under his breath.

The forest was eerily quiet, but as they continued their search, the scary silence turned into calm peacefulness. Bird chirps were heard every so often and a few squirrels could be spotted, rustling from one tree to the next. Dopey found the critters adorable. He would wander away from the trail for a bit, just to chat with them with whistles and chatter. He would squawk at birds and pet all the fuzzy bunnies.

"I wish we brought Sir YipsALot with us on this lovely trip!" Queen Delightful stated zealously. "He sure does love long walks."

As Queen Delightful conversed with Lord Starchbottom and Vincent, Grumpy walked behind them with his arms crossed. He scampered up to Happy, whispering something. "Happy, can we talk?"

Happy didn't get the hint. "Well of course we can talk, Grumpy!" He laughed. "If we couldn't talk, then I wouldn't be able to say all this! What a silly question, Gru-"

"No!" Grumpy interrupted tersely. "You know what I mean."

"Oh. Well ok."

Grumpy nimbly pulled Happy behind bushes, farther away from the rest of the gang, but Vincent noticed Grumpy's suspicions and with narrowed eyes, he glared at the two hiding away.

"Happy, I have to say something about... your dad..." Grumpy said in a hushed tone.

Happy gleamed happily. "Yay I'm so ecstatic! Isn't he wonderful?"

Grumpy hushed him before continuing. "Well... yes, but no..."

Happy was puzzled. "Wh-what do you mean?" He asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"Look Happy... I'm kind of I guess... distracted at the moment. And it's mostly towards your father. I... I heard your dad murmur something strange back at Hildy's manor when we found out Hildy escaped. It was like he _knew_ she was leaving. Isn't that... unnerving?"

Happy paused, gawking at Grumpy with mix of an offended and insulted expression. "Grumpy... now isn't the time to make up one of your dumb suspicions..."

"Dumb? DUMB!" Grumpy was taken aback.

"Especially towards MY FATHER!" Happy retorted, tears of frustration building in the corner of his eyes. "I thought you'd LIKE him!"

"N-no, I mean I DID, and I DO like him, b-but..." Grumpy stammered.

Happy rolled his eyes. He angrily pushed Grumpy aside, hopping over the bushes, he raced after Vincent. "Hey son. What were you two talking about over there?"

"Nothing important." Happy faked a smile, strumming on his guitar to take his mind off things.

"Well, there go my chances..." Grumpy sighed to himself. Gaining the courage to go talk to him again, he rushed over to Happy, trying to regain his attention. "Happy? Happy look-"

Happy wouldn't waste his time caring. He began strumming on his guitar even louder, singing a raucously tune, straining his voice to the outright max to block out Grumpy's voice. "LA-LA-LA-LA! I'M SINGIN' A WONDERFUL SONG ON THIS WONDERFUL DAY AND I'M TOTALLY 100% NOT MAD AT GRUMPY FOR DISSING MY FATHER AND BEING A BIG MEANIE-TIGHT BELTED LOOOO-OOO-OOO-SEEEERRR!~"

Vincent glimpsed at his son. "What?"

"Arrgh! Happy! I want to apologi-"

"OH OH OH LA LA LA LEE LEE LEE!  
HEY DAD  
DO YOU HEAR SOMETHIN'?"

Vincent just stared at Happy with an odd expression.

"NEITHER DID I!  
HAHAHA  
JUST SINGIN' A WONDERFUL TUNE  
LALALA~"

Happy screeched so much, it almost sounded like a death metal song. Grumpy had to resort to plugging his ears tightly with his thumbs, growling all the way behind Happy.

"FINE! Don't listen to me!" Grumpy yelled. He crossed his arms with a dejected expression. "...it's not like I'll care..."

Bashful scurried hurried over to Doc, hiding behind him. "There's certainly something wrong with those two, Doc."

Doc took a look behind his shoulder, staring at his two friends completely snubbing one another. He sighed, positioning his glasses correctly. "You're right Bashful... Happy and Grumpy have had fights a lot, but the tables seem turned here. Happy looks pleased to ignore Grumpy..." He paused.

"...and Grumpy looks like he's about to cry..."

Bashful peeked out Doc's golden beard. "Grumpy? Cry? Phu-HA! I'd PAY to see that!" He giggled, covering his mouth.

"Yeah, well, their brawling is causing a disruption in our mission... PLUS I now have a major headache." Doc said, rubbing the sharp pain repeating on his forehead.

"Aww..." Bashful jeered. "Here- I'll make them stop for you." He told Doc with a short and adorable smile, before twisting around with fiery eyes and raging fists. "HEY YOU TWO! STOP FIGHTING! YOU'RE GIVING DOC A MIGRAINE!"

Happy and Grumpy jumped, both in startled amazement that Bashful would howler like that.

"Jeez... you two act like such a married couple sometimes..." Bashful taunted.

Hearing this, Happy automatically skidded away from Grumpy, stressing to be as far away as him as humanely possible. He stood in between Lord Starchbottom and Queen Delightful, rising a conversation.

Doc's eyes lit up as the two finally stopped their bickering. "Wow! Bash! You're amazing! Thanks so much."

Bashful blushed, scratching the back of his neck. "T-thanks Doc... anything for you." He grinned cutely, sending a slight wink Doc's way.

Once Bashful was out of sight, Doc's cheeks blossomed a cherry pink. He giggled, thinking back on Bashful's sweet words. _T-thanks Doc... anything for you._ Those words echoed through his mind like a never ending roller coaster ride with millions of loopy-loops.

 _Was that kindness from a friend... or perhaps more...?_

A stinging shout was heard behind Doc. Doc leaped in the air, half his size. "Doc! Are you ok?" Bashful's scratchy voice squeaked. Doc quickly zipped around, even more flustered than he already was, but this time from embarrassment, and he ascended his way up the hill, where the rest of the fellas and the Queen awaited.

"S-sorry! I'm coming!" He called back, praying that Bashful didn't notice his pink painted face.


	9. Splinters

As the quest continued, Doc couldn't stop thinking of all the emotions he felt towards Bashful about an hour ago.

The sun was setting, the air gradually became windy and cool. Doc's mind was in the clouds, whereas Vincent was stable and knew when it was time to crash. He glanced up at the dusk sky. "Well, as much as I would love to extend our adventure til' we actually find Hildy, it seems like a perfect time -and area- to sleep out for the night."

"Let's ask our main man though!" Bashful responded, "Hey Doc- what do you think?"

Doc was taken aback. Flustered from humiliation, he stuttered, "Y-yeah... uh... you're right! We should... do whatever... you want... Bashful..."

Bashful tilted his head to the side. "Uh. Ok. He says we should everyone!"

Queen Delightful beamed. "That's great!" She then paused, her mood changing. "But... we have no where to sleep!"

Doc shrugged it off, returning to his normal nerd. "Don't worry about it, your highness. I have an exact invention for this particular moment!" He exclaimed, pulling out his hat, shaking it violently, until five small package-like objects slipped out of his hat. "Now it may look like teeny-tiny packages, but this miniature string here..." Doc points to the small string, "...pulls out this magnificent tent!"

Doc yanked the string. With a POP! the package transformed into a tremendous tent. The tent was much higher and spacier than you'd think, considering the tiny form it took moments before. Doc quickly opened up the last of the tents, beaming at the look of astonishment from all his peers, his eyes mostly glued to Bashful's soft smile.

Dopey whistled approvingly whereas the rest applauded. "That's amazing, Doc!" Vincent praised. Bashful nodded.

"It's what he does best!"

Doc blushed yet again, gesturing towards the tents. "These tents are big enough to hold 2-3 people. Sooo... I guess I'll be splitting you guys into groups, eh'?" He laughed. "Well, let's see, Queen Delightful and Lord Starchbottom will share one tent, Vincent and Renata will share another, than Sleepy and Sneezy, Happy and Gru...-"

Happy's hand zipped up, cutting Doc's speech off.

"Uh... yes Happy?"

"May I sleep somewhere as far away from that grump-faced dwarf with cow-like ears and a gross body shape. Please?" He asked in the politest way possible despite the sentence sounding absolutely rude. There are a few snickers heard all around.

Grumpy growled. "Yeah, well, could I get a tent as far away from that disgustingly enthusiastic dwarf with short stubby legs, legs barely able to lift his own body weight, with a blindingly ugly smile. PLEASE!" Grumpy practically screamed.

Doc was bewildered at first, but then chuckled light-heartedly. "Yeah, ok. Grumpy you share a tent with Sleepy. Dopey will share a tent with Happy AND Sneezy." He paused as if he was done.

"Wait... what about me?" Bashful inquired.

Doc noticed he didn't place him nor Bashful in a tent. He mentally face palmed but quickly regained posture. He gestured to the last tent. "I-I g-guess we'll be sharing a tent, hehe... unless... you don't want to..."

Bashful nodded in recognition. "Fine with me!"

Sleepy, Sneezy and Dopey were the first to head to sleep. Once their heads lay on the soft grass, their eyelids shut together, dozing off into a wonderful place of sweet dreams and tranquility. Renata was picking up flowers on top of the grassy hills. She frolicked through the daises, roses, tulips, snapdragons and statices and began plucking each one in consecutive order. Vincent eventually saw his wife taking the flowers and hiked up the hill, obtaining Renata's attention.

"Renata... sweetheart... let's get some rest. There are hundreds of flowers everywhere! Seriously, stop." Vincent said, placing his hand out to block Renata from grabbing more flowers.

"Aww, why not?" Renata whined, already holding enough flowers to build an entire garden.

"We don't want to upset poor Sneezy down there, do we?" Vincent asked. "He sneezes at the easiest of things. Just bring a few flowers down."

Renata exhaled. "Ug, ok fine." She knelt down to gently place a few of the flowers, but something on her husband's fists caught her eye. There were slight scars resting by his knuckles, but they were odd scars. It looked as if he had splinters and had to pull them all out. They looked fresh.

Renata paused. "Vincent... a-are you ok?"

Vincent twisted his eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You're hand. What's with those scars?"

Vincent moved his hand to eye level, then took another pause. "Uhh.. I uh, I accidentally got splinters on my knuckles... but it's no big deal." He told a white lie, rubbing his wound with his other hand like he was trying to hide it.

"Aww I'm sorry sweety." Renata said, forgetting about the flowers. "How did it happen?"

Vincent growled. "It doesn't matter." He retorted. Renata was taken aback. "S-sorry." He hesitated. "But if you REALLY wanna know... well... I accidentally broke a table."

Renata giggled a bit. "Why would you do that?"

"I don't know. I was mad at someone." He replied, trying to change the subject. "Well anyway! It's time for bed!" He claimed, wrapping an arm around Renata, they both ambled down the hill back to the tents for a night's rest.

Everyone was already asleep except Grumpy. Grumpy had started a fire and sat in front of it, watching the flames rise and trickle down. The shadows behind the fire danced freely. Grumpy rubbed his hands next to the blazing fire, warming his body up and sighed melodiously. The ash from the fire flew in the air, swaying with the breeze. Renata entered the tent, but Vincent glared at Grumpy.

"Hey." Vincent called out.

Grumpy turned his neck to face him. "Yeah?"

"You going to sleep?" Vincent asked.

Grumpy shrugged. "Yes... why?"

"Just curious." Vincent stated. "Just be careful out there. This forest may look beautiful, but there are some serious monsters lurking in the night, and sometimes even the day." He warned, before entering his tent where Renata lay asleep. Grumpy scoffed, rolling his eyes as he stared at the glowing fire. Grumpy fell asleep next to the fire, his head resting on a log. The fire soon faded away, the pitch somber darkness enveloped everything with it.

* * *

 **THE NEXT MORNING**

Hildy awoke from the smell of fish. She swatting the scent away from her, cringing at the smell, until she finally rose to her feet, glaring at what lay ahead of her. "HEY!" She cried, staring deeply at Dr. J failing at cooking fish for breakfast.

"Fish? For breakfast?" Hildy asked, plugging her nose as smoke floated over to her. She angrily ambled over to the fire. "What's wrong with you? You can't even cook fish correctly!"

Dr J grunted. "Of course I can! YOU can't SMELL correctly!" He cried back a terrible comeback.

As if on instinct, the fish burst into flames making Hildy screeched. Goldilocks zipped to the fire with a bucket of water and threw the water all over the burning fish. The fire crackled away and Goldilocks glared brutally at Dr J.

"What? It's not my fault the fish burned. Hildy made me lose concentration..."

Goldilocks groaned but decided it was best to ignore him.

"So... should we continue our expedition?" Hildy asked, holding the map. Goldilocks shook her head.

"Why right now? Look at where we are!" Goldilocks motioned towards the graceful land everywhere they glanced. Tall sunflowers were situated right across from where they were. Hummingbirds, bees and small critters bounced about, slithering around the long grasses and beautiful flowers. The sky and temperature was absolutely perfect for the summer. Summers in Jollywood were usually blazing hot, but now it was a mix of sun and breezes.

But then Hildy remembered... she wasn't IN Jollywood anymore!

Hildy grinned peacefully as wind blew through her hair. "You're right... it is wonderful..."

Goldilocks noticed Hildy's hair. "Hey, your hair... it's longer."

Hildy reached up, kneaded at her hair, when realizing it was, indeed, longer. Hildy giggled. "Yeah, I've been growing it. I'm glad SOMEONE finally noticed..." She said, glaring over at Grim. Grim poked his head up.

"Oh Hildy Wildy! Your hair looks great!" Grim responded, giving her a thumbs up. Hildy rolled her eyes.

"And besides..." Goldilocks continued, "we wouldn't want to run on an empty stomach." She dropped a brown sack by her feet. The bag opened up, presenting blue and red delicious berries. "Trust me, these berries AREN'T Giggleberries or Blues Berries. They're just yummy, juicy berries I found around the creek!" She told them, her thumb arching behind the sunflowers, showing them where the creek lay.

Hildy smiled brightly. "There's a creek over here!?" She asked, happily.

"Yup! It's really pretty!" Goldilocks said.

Dr J scoffed. "I bet I could've made better fish than that stupid bag of berries..." He grumbled aside. Everyone ignored him.

* * *

The 7D and everyone trekked up the trail, breaking rocks and almost colliding into one another. Vincent scratched his wound, a little bit too hard as he broke the flesh and some drops of blood slithered down his fingers. He cringed, but made sure no one noticed. He didn't want anyone else asking him about it. He wiped away the blood and squeezed his scars with his other hand to make the bleeding stop.

They all took a short break, the sun where they were was blindingly bright. Lord Starchbottom felt like his was about to faint. Queen Delightful sat next to him, fanning him so he wouldn't faint.

"Come on guys! We have to carry on! We're almost to Hildy." Vincent tried persuading others, but most of everyone was out of it.

"I don't think I can carry on..." Grumpy mumbled, stretching out his aching legs.

Happy jumped up to his father's side. "Well of course YOU can't carry on Grumpy. Hey everyone!- it looks like what Grumpy said yesterday was wrong. My "stubby legs" CAN carry my weight, whereas COW EARS of here can't go on anymore!"

Grumpy gritted his teeth. "Your legs are shaking."

Happy gritted his teeth back, his legs violently shaking. Happy stumbled a bit before responding with, "No they aren't."

"Ugh, stop harping you two!" Doc shouted, interrupting the argument. Doc then glanced over to Vincent. "Don't worry, Vincent, we will continue the search. We all just need a little break."

"I'm with Doc." Grumpy said, glaring harshly at Happy.

Bashful looked over to Doc. "Me too."

"Oh... oookay..." Vincent faked a smile although he really wanted to force everyone to run.

Lots of time of nothingness passed, Vincent was bored out of his mind and was impatiently waiting for Doc to finally stand up and begin the search again, but nothing happened. Happy silently strummed at his guitar, creating a soft melody. The 7D, Starchy, Delightful and even Renata stayed silent, listening to the music, but Vincent just wanted to get going.

Eventually, the music was interrupted by a rambunctious growl and rustle of bushes deep in the forest. Happy paused his song for a second, staring in the forest's clearing with anxiety, but nothing popped out. He shrugged, and continued his song, but once he strummed one string, an angry monster pounced out the forest, smelling blood. Vincent was just as surprised a monster would find them. Why would it chase us? That is until he glanced down at his hand and saw his hand was back to bleeding again.

"RUN!" Renata screamed, running ahead of everyone else.

Starchbottom's cowardly side sprung out as he screamed loudly. "I'LL SAVE YOU, QUEEN DELIGHTFUL!" He suddenly cried, rushing over to the Queen and carrying her on his back. Bashful noted this, a jealous expression plastered on his face.

Everyone sprinted away, the monster close on their heels. They were gaining speed, until Doc halted in a precipitous stop. "Umm... guys, we have a bit of a problem..." Doc said, his eyes transfixed at what lay in front of them.

"What? What is it?" Grumpy retorted.

Happy glared over at him. "Stop nagging, Grumpy!"

"L... Look for yourself..." Doc barely uttered.

Everyone peered behind Doc, gasping. A huge cavern lay in front of them, thousands of miles deep. The only way across was a fragile slither of land. Even if Lord Starchbottom, the skinniest of them all, tried crossing the slither, it would result in a terrible fall to his death.

"I think we're better off as monster food." Doc stated in fright.

The monster was on all fours now, quickly catching up to the group. Renata cried, gripping her husband's writs. The monster pounced at everyone, the force so powerful, Grumpy ended up losing his footing, falling off the cavern's edge. At the last second, he grabbing the side of the cavern, holding on for dear life.

"VINCENT!" Grumpy yelled. Vincent stole a glance at Grumpy hanging on the edge. "VINCENT, HELP ME!" Vincent was stunned, frozen in place for a second, before running away from Grumpy.

"WHAT?" Grumpy yelped, his grip loosening.

The rocky edge Grumpy held tightly onto started cracking, it raced around his hands, over to the other side, about to break apart. The rocks broke, and for a split second, Grumpy thought he was going to plummet to his death. A hand swiftly wrapped around Grumpy's wrist.

Vincent? Did he come back to save me? Grumpy questioned.

As Grumpy was pulled up, he saw a friendly dwarf wearing a green pokadoted party hat. Grumpy felt immense relief.

"Thanks Ha-"

"HURRY!" Happy yelled bitterly, yanking Grumpy to his feet so they could run easier.

But there was no need to run. Dopey found a way to calm the creature. Dopey was rubbing the monster's belly, the monster now looked innocent and sweet, it's tongue hanging out cutely like a dog, and he wagged his fuzzy tail.

"How'd you make him stop?" Grumpy asked, his chest heaving up and down from the intense moment he experienced seconds before.

Dopey whistled, Doc translated as, "This poor monster was just trying to gain someone's attention to help him fix his wound." Dopey picked up a large splinter, presumably the cause of the wound. "This cute monster isn't ACTUALLY a bad one! He's just extremely misunderstood."

Vincent scratched his hand some more. "I know what the pain of having splinters is like..." He muttered to himself.

Happy let go of Grumpy's hand, facing away from him. "Thanks for saving me, Happy." Grumpy said, hoping this would fix their relationship.

There was a pause before Happy responded.

"Forget it..."

* * *

Hildy splashed creek water all above her, skipping and hopping through the trickling stream. She giggled enthusiastically, enjoying the short time.

"CANNON BOLT!" Grim shouted, jumping into the creek himself. A large splash flew its way over to Hildy, the entire wave making her wet. She laughed, before swiftly splashing water his way, leading to a splashing contest.

Dr J and Bingo ruined it. Because they suck. Fun little author's opinion.

"Bingo!" Dr J wailed, pouring a bucket filled with water over the dimwit's head. "Stop messing everything up for me!"

"S-sorry masta..." Bingo apologized.

Goldilocks chuckled. "Trust me Dr J, you don't need Bingo to make you look like a fool. You already do an excellent job doing that yourself!"

Hildy laughed obnoxiously loud. "Who's more foolish? The fool himself or the fool whom follows him?" Hildy asked, pointing to Dr J and then moving her finger to Bingo.

Goldilocks, Grim and Hildy burst into laughter. Dr J scrunched his nose in disgust. He turned to Bingo. "Don't worry Bingo, one day they will pay. They will ALL PAY!" He whispered. Bingo nodded in agreement.

Hildy climbed out the creek, wrapping a dry towel around her hair and laid down on the puffy grass. "So, when are we going to go onward?" She asked Goldilocks.

Goldilocks sucked her teeth in distress, thinking up an excuse. "Uh... well... um, we-uhh..."

"Aww c'mon!' Hildy sat straight up, catching on to Goldilocks' lies and excuses. "You keep on making excuses! Why are you keeping me here? What about that wonderful and new town that's easy to conquer?"

Goldilocks was lost in words. She couldn't keep up the act to Hildy anymore. She was much smarter than Grim, Dr J and especially Bingo.

She was about to answer, until Grim changed the subject. "Hey, you know what we deserve now? A little comic relief!" He asserted, pulling The Crystal Ball out of his backpack, and waking him up.

Goldilocks found a loophole. "Yeah Hildy! Let's hear some jokes- you love jokes, right?"

Hildy rolled her eyes with a sigh, shaking her head to say no. Goldilocks merely shrugged. "Well, whatever. You're missing out Hildy Wildy!" Goldilocks semi-mocked, rushing over to The Crystal Ball to hear jokes as well.

Hildy lay back on the fluffy grass, staring up at the cloudy sky, watching as hummingbirds communicated in tweets, a language no one understood, and as bees spread pollen everywhere. "What's the worst thing about throwing a party in space? You have to PLANET!" Hildy heard The Crystal's dumb joke as everyone surrounding him laugh. Ever so faintly, she could hear Queen Delightful's voice wiz through her ears.

 _It's great meeting you, Brooke._

Some days, Hildy wished she could stay as Brooke forever.


	10. Caught Blue Handed

Goldilocks brushed her hair, making it neat. She took the hair ties from around her wrists and began tying her hair in her normal luscious curls. Hildy was sitting next to Goldilocks, and without asking, she reached over and took Goldilocks' brush. Hildy's hair was growing fast, her bang would fall over her right eye.

"Alright Goldilocks," Hildy continued, "we've been here for a whole day. I admit it's... great... but we should seriously get back in the game! Where is the easy-to-conquer town?"

Goldilocks fluffed up her curls, the curls stayed up as if she sprayed tons of hairspray on them. "We'll go in a second." She lied.

"Good!" Hildy jumped. "I know I've been rusty on my spells and being evil in general, but with this new town, I won't have to worry about Queen Delightful getting in my way!" She spun in a circle.

Goldilocks giggled. "And how exactly is it difficult dethroning Queen Delightful? She's sooo naive. Don't let me get started on her dumb little circus parade. "THE 7D"." Goldilocks mocked. "All of them are a bunch of dorks. Lord Starchbottom the dorkiest. I mean- he's too busy going ga-ga over the Queen to realize she HATES him! I don't blame her though. He's such a coward and really annoying." She paused.

"Geez... why is it that every ginger coward have a crush on Queen Delightful? I'm talking about that Bashful kid too."

Hildy didn't like Goldilocks' lingering mockery. "For such a young age, you sure do act like you know a lot..." Hildy spat.

Goldilocks was unfazed by this. "Ahh Hildy, you joker. Don't worry, soon you will have your OWN castle! And I'll kill those pesky 7D!"

"Oh that's grea...- wait... what?" Hildy twisted around when hearing the last part.

"Well a-duh!" Goldilocks cackled. "You think I want to watch you destroy a town with Grim?" She forced a yawn. "BOOOORING! When we get to the new castle, I'll leave YOU and your HUBBY-WUBBY alone, and then I'll skip back to Jollywood, murdering the 7D with THIS!" Goldilocks pulled out a silver battle ax, swinging it at the sunflowers, watching them die. "See? Just imagine those flowers as the head of QUEEN DELIGHTFUL HERSELF!"

Hildy's heart clenched. "I'd rather not!" She blurted, swiping the battle ax from Goldilocks' hands. "You're only like, twelve, why do you have this thing?"

Goldilocks grunted, but quickly changed attitude, faking a innocent look. "Well I didn't know... Dr J made it and just left it around..."

"Goldilocks... I know you purposely picked this up." Hildy eyed her. Goldilocks rolled her eyes.

"Fine, so maybe I did! Who really cares?" Goldilocks muttered, staring away from Hildy.

"Seriously... let's continue our mission..." Hildy insisted.

Goldilocks sighed, but her eyes then lit up. "Oh yes! There's one little place I want to show you. It's VERY gloomy, so I'm sure you'll love it!" She caught hold of Hildy's hand, then shouted at everyone else, demanding them to follow her. "COME ON GUYS, I gotta a cool witchy place to show you."

Without question, everyone followed like mindless sheep.

* * *

Sneezy raised his hands in the air, spinning in circles. "Hey! The air is breezier around here!" He sniffled, twirling around like a helicopter.

"Yes! That means we're close!" Vincent yelled excitedly, he knew this even though he wasn't holding the map.

"How do you know this?' Grumpy questioned.

"Well I-uh, I've just memorized the map. That's all!" Vincent replied, holding his wife close to him.

Eventually, they all arrived to a grassy field, the sound of a running nearby creek whistled in the wind. It was the perfect temperature. There were a few odd things that made the 7D believe someone was already here. A brown bag covered in a mixture of blue and red berry juice lay down next to long logs. A campsite was located in the middle of the logs, the rocks looked burned. Across from the logs lay beautiful sunflowers, but half of the poor flowers were cut off! Dopey rushed up to the flowers, staring at them with sad eyes.

Sneezy glanced over at the flowers, but walked in the opposite direction. He rubbed his nose. "I don't want to start up my sneezing-fest..." He said with caution.

Doc examined the flowers closely, glancing at the stems. "The cutting is fresh... like literally, someone JUST cut this minutes ago! And they're man-made cuts. No animal chewed on them or anything."

Vincent smirked. "That means they're here..."

"They?"

"She." Vincent corrected. "She's here."

"The landscape is certainly splendid out here..." Queen Delightful giggled, circling the campfire.

"Hey maybe we should head over...-" Vincent pointed to an ominous area behind large groups of bushes.

"Let's stay here for a bit..." Doc declared, continuing to stare at the sunflowers. "Just a little longer. These flowers are fascinating."

"Yeah, besides dad, this area is great for some father-son bonding!" Happy beamed to Vincent. Vincent was hesitant, but reluctantly sat next to Happy, listening to the tune his son played on the guitar.

* * *

Hildy peered down at the deep cavern. "Didn't we see something similar to this on our way here?" She asked, tilting her head at all the similar surroundings.

"Oh NO!" Goldilocks said a bit loudly. She laughed awkwardly. "I mean- it's not like I've been leading you in circles this entire time haha..." Goldilocks quickly grabbed Hildy's hand again. "But there's this AWESOME and freaky abandoned shack right around..." She trailed her hands all around big leaves, moving objects out of the way, searching for the secret shack. "...HERE!" She smiled, ripping apart leaves and tropical vines, exposing the wooden and broken down shack.

Now THAT was unfamiliar.

"Dr J, lead us inside!"

Dr J nodded, taking out a key from his pocket, and opened the door. It was extremely dark and smelly in the shack. It smelled of old newspaper, really moldy. The shack was a decent size, but the shape it was in was terrible.

"You could get splinters from this place..." Hildy whispered to herself, squishing her nose at the gross smell and battered appearance. It was tough to see anything, Hildy had to constantly squint at everything, but even then it was blurry, and she couldn't tell what anything was unless it was inches from her face. Goldilocks, Dr J and Bingo could easily walk through the shack as if they entered and exited it their entire life.

"H-Hildy... I'm nervous..." Grim stammered, squeezing his wife's hand. Hildy smiled over at him, although he probably couldn't see.

"Don't worry Grimmy-Wimmy. I gotcha!" She reassured, soothing him by talking in her baby voice.

Suddenly, Dr J stopped walking, causing everyone to stop. In a dim light, there was a interesting looking machine. The machine had a distorted helmet, red wires strung out and around it. It looked like a mad scientist's machine. The seat looked like a barber's seat, but it was mangled, stuffing popping out of it. The machine was like one of those machines insane people and criminals used to change the personality of someone.

Hildy's heart thumped. _They wouldn't dare use it on her... would they?_

"W-what's the machine... for?" Hildy gulped, her hand holding Grim's hand shook abnormally fast.

"Why, it's my LATEST INVENTION!" Dr J screamed in insanity. He reminded Hildy a lot of a crazier Doc when saying that. "It works quite nicely. The basic use is to change a person's mortality. It can transform the most respectable human being into a vile criminal. It's fast, reliable and one of my most greatest pieces of work! We've already tested the thing on our first victim. Isn't that right, Vincent?"

In the corner of the room lay a shadow, Hildy couldn't make out any characteristic details to identify who he was. "Yes." This so called "Vincent" man whispered. His tone of voice was soft but eerie. It made Hildy shiver all over.

"Hello, Hildy Gloom. I've heard _lots_ of things about you."

* * *

Vincent's knee bounced up and down slightly, a habit that came naturally to him when he was frustrated or waiting impatiently.

"C'mon guys, I swear there's something important over there!" He kept complaining.

Doc was annoyed by Vincent's constant complaints. He twisted on his heels, facing Vincent, "Alright, fine! What is it you want to show us?"

Vincent smiled viciously. "Follow the leader." He said, taking the same path Goldilocks did when presenting the secret shack to Hildy. Grumpy, however, noticed something.

"Hey, does this landscape look familiar to anyone else?" He questioned.

Happy scoffed, whereas Doc had to take a stop. "You're right, Grumpy..." Doc agreed, "we've been here before when that monster attacked. ..."

Vincent gulped, quickly pushing them to the shack. "Grumpy, stop making silly jokes." He laughed, showing off the shack.

'Oohs' and 'ahhs' flew out the 7D's mouth when they saw the shack.

This time, Happy began feeling suspicions. "Hey... this feels familiar..." He whispered, thinking back to words like **Dark Meadow 135** and **Secret Shed** s.

Vincent didn't hear his son, so he began pushing him ahead of him. Happy pounced backwards, hoping he could leave somehow. "Um, actually dad, I don't really like broken down, creepy looking and abandoned sheds..."

"But, it's a shack! Not shed..." Vincent protested, but Happy wouldn't budge.

"If Happy doesn't want to go, then I'll stay out here with him." Grumpy crossed his arms, automatically knowing there was something strange about Vincent.

Vincent's eyes suddenly turned deep blue, his teeth gritted into a scowl, and he wasn't afraid to show it this time.

But before Vincent could do anything to hurt anyone, the shack door creaked open, and Vincent's eyes lit up. "Yes! Finally! They're here!"

Six shadowy figures walked out one by one. First Hildy, then Grim, Goldilocks, Dr. J, Bingo and lastly, a much shorter man with purple skin.

"VINCENT?" Everyone gasped as they saw two Vincent's, even Hildy was confused.

Hildy then realized her theory of Queen Delightful being tricked by Shapeshifter was true, but Shapeshifter unfortunately tricked her as well.

The "Vincent" who led the 7D on their adventure, transformed into a tall teal man, causing Queen Delightful to screech in shock.

"Hildy... why would you-?" Queen Delightful barely murmured. Hildy was just as confused and nervous as everyone else.

"I didn't... I mean, I did but I WASN'T a part of this, no one told me about this..." Hildy stammered nervously, but that scared side of her disappeared, her mad side taking over. She twisted over to Goldilocks. "YOU TRICKED ME AS WELL? I bet you lied about the new castle for me to take over as well, didn't you?" Hildy screamed, glaring holes into her skin.

Shapeshifter interrupted Hildy's shouts. His tail wrapped around the 7D, the Jolly Royals & Renata. His grip endured with each struggle. Hildy gasped at this, she glared at Shapeshifter. "Shapeshifter, let them go!" She growled, getting ready to pounce at him.

Goldilocks briskly intervened, she raised her arms up to try to calm Hildy down, but it obviously wasn't working. "Hildy- Hildy- Hildy! Relax! We had a deal. My deal was for you to find an easy kingdom to take over, and what I get in return would be whatever I pleased... isn't that right Hildy?"

Hildy hesitated. She gulped, taking a fast breath she said, "Yes but-"

"Then let me do what I want with the foolish 7D!" Goldilocks screamed back. "And your castle is right here!" She yelped, sliding large leaves out of the way, revealing Hildy's new castle. The sun burned Hildy's skin, the familiar surroundings enveloped her field of vision. Her once widened eyes shrank in confusion and curiosity.

"This... this is just Jollywood..."

Dr J and Bingo nodded in unison.

"Wait... you mean to tell me... we've been going in circles... this ENTIRE time? What about the map?!"

Goldilocks laughed. "That map was a fake. You didn't even have to read it!"

"But... but why were you leading me in circles all this time? Why didn't you tell me anything about this plan? I deserved to know!" Hildy ranted, her face turning red due to frustration.

Goldilocks groaned, knowing she'd have to explain at some time. "Shapeshifter, Dr J and I all might've made a plan without telling you about it. My deal was to manipulate you into stalling meanwhile Shapeshifter shaped into Vincent- a very easy target. He tricked Queen Delightful and all the ignorant to go on a SPLENDID adventure to find YOU! See, Shapeshifter had been thinking of this plan for a LOOONG while! Remember that old house you used to live in, Renata?"

Renata gulped, scared to answer. "Y-yes..."

"Well that is Shapeshifter's HOME!" Goldilocks laughed manically. "Yes Happy- those cutesy-wutsy letters you supposedly thought you were sending to your parents was actually none other then the evil mastermind himself! Once he figured out BASHFUL was part of the 7D, he knew he had to concoct a plan to destroy the ENTIRE 7D... but first he needed a handyman... someone who could invent wild machines to main, kill and demolish, which is where Dr J comes in!"

Dr J nodded proudly as he heard his name.

"Believe it or not, but Shapeshifter and Dr J had been friendly acquaintances for a few years, and their friendship only recently starting blossoming as they built this plan. What was even better was that Dr J had actually meet the 7D before, when he dwarf-napped Doc. With this new found information, Shapeshifter was able to analyze the 7D's weakness, even if it did take forever. Until finally, he met ME!" Goldilocks beamed. "Last Winter, when Shapeshifter was just about to put his plan in motion, we tried entering Jollywood, only to realize HILDY was the new Queen!"

Hildy turned pale just thinking back to the awful Queen she truly was. Her thoughts on ruling any kingdom slowly drained like the color in her face.

"Shapeshifter was intrigued by you, Hildy! He remembered how you were the first time you three met, you and Grim were VERY disorganized, causing him to lose his battle with Agent Bash!"

Bashful rolled his eyes. "I thought I told you I ended that dumb feud months ago!"

"Don't interrupt!" Goldilocks snapped. "With this sudden change, you being Queen and all, he was impressed with your abilities. He decided to spy on you for a few moments, just to see how your attitude and actions changed. However, when Queen Delightful regained her crown, he was slightly disappointed, but knew there was still evil in you!  
So as Dr J worked on his new invention, Shapeshifter went out of his way to find out who these Renata and Vincent people were. His luck ran dry, but when playing Go Fish, he conversed with the Gingerbread Witch. She knew who Renata and Vincent were and where they lived. So Shapeshifter waited one night until Renata left to buy groceries. He disguised himself into a nice looking businessman, asking Vincent if he'd like a job offer. It was kept a secret between the two.  
"Finally, the date for Happy's parents to visit Jollywood was set in motion! Shapeshifter tricked Vincent into thinking he was heading for the castle, when in reality he set off one of Dr J's traps. Dr J dwarf-napped him... from experience..."

Goldilocks sent a glare Doc's way, but Bashful returned the glare, not allowing anyone to be rude to Doc.

"Anyway... Dr J tested his machine on Vincent in jiffy. Thankfully for us, Vincent didn't escape on time and was turned into the beautiful man you see before you! For Shapeshifter-Vincent, well... he somehow slipped past you simple minded fools!" Goldilocks giggled.

Queen Delightful wiggled uncomfortably in Shapeshifter's grip. Her eyes were flooded in tears, and she rested her chin on Lord Starchbottom's shoulder. Starchy sighed sadly. "I'm so sorry my Delight..." He whispered in her ear. "I wish I could save you..."

There was a large pause, anger grew inside of Hildy. She wanted a law passed allowing her beat Goldilocks to a pulp. Goldilocks laughed with mockery.

"Who's the bigger fool Hildy? The fool," Goldilocks pointed to herself. "Or the fool who follows her?" Her finger twirled around, pointing towards Hildy. Goldilocks burst into laughter, her golden twisted curls bounced voluntarily. Hildy was stuck in shock.

"Goldilocks, why don't you take Hildy and Grim and Dr J to the castle...-"

"What about me?" Bingo exclaimed, causing everyone to groan in annoyance, even Grim.

"Yes... even you..." Shapeshifter corrected his earlier statement. He then exchanged glances with Hildy, grabbing her eye contact. "Look Hildy- I know it may seem difficult to have Goldilocks as an ally... she has a very interesting sense of humor... but you'll have so much fun as the new Queen!" Shapeshifter said with immense happiness, completely ignoring Hildy's look of grief.

Hildy, still halfway stuck in shock, was pulled forward by Goldilocks, carried over to the castle.

In Shapeshifter's grip, Renata struggled, hoping she'll escape and seek revenge on the man holding her. She grunted, until her gaze landed straight on her husband's deadpan face. "Vincent...? Vincent... this ISN'T like you! He...help...-"

Shapeshifter cackled at her attempts of freedom. "Sorry sweet-cheeks, but there's no possible way your husband will save anyone on your side. I don't want to spoil the surprise, but Dr J. may or may have not created a machine to change anyone's personality, demolishing their way of thought and changing them to be as evil as moi."

Renata stared wearily at her reversed love. "Vincent... please tell me it's not true!" She gaped, her throat closing up in misery.

"It can change anyone... even the happiest of people..." Shapeshifter sneered, directing his attention to Happy.

Grumpy couldn't stand to hear or watch his friends get attacked. He found a way to wiggle out of Shapeshifter's grip. However, Shapeshifter was way ahead of him. Shapeshifter lifted the tip of his tail, somehow still holding on to everyone else, and powerfully flicked at Grumpy, causing him to stumble back in one blow. Grumpy lost his footing like what had happened before with the monster, but this time instead of catching hold of the ground, he flung backwards, unable to grasp anything, and plummet to his death screaming all the way down.

The 7D watch with horrified expressions at their buddy's potential death. Pained cries burst through their throats, wishing they could do something. Even Dr J, Bingo and Vincent looked a little upset.

Dr J and Bingo rushed to the edge of the cliff, peering down to estimate just how far he fell. "Whoa Shapeshifter! I-i-s h-he dead?" Dr J stammered, never had he ever watched a real life death presented in front of his eyes.

Shapeshifter didn't seem to care. "Ugh who cares? We all knew one of them would die sooner or later."

"But... isn't that going a little too far?" Bingo sputtered. "I mean, I understand forcing them to do all our dirty work... you know ...hard labor? But KILLING them?!"

Dr J nodded, agreeing with his usual enemy. "Yes, for once I actually AGREE with Bingo!"

"Shouldn't you two be with Hildy and Goldilocks?" Shapeshifter snapped, causing Bingo and Dr J to bolt up in fear. They ran ahead, up to the castle.

Everyone stuck in Shapeshifter's grip gave out, their bodies were worn out and their eyes were flooded with tears. "What are you going to do to us? You wouldn't DARE use the machine on my poor son, would you?! You're not THAT evil!" Renata cried.

Shapeshifter gave a smug crooked smile, he carefully loosened his grip until he let them go completely. "If you follow my orders, some of you may live for a couple weeks. Longer than others, at least. Anyway, since you're all worn out, I've decided to give all of you a day's worth of sleep and mushy food. Now walk in an orderly line. If any of you try to escape; the same fate that happened to your grouchy friend will happen to you as well."

The 6D lined up: Doc in the lead as usually, Happy behind, then Bashful, Sneezy, Sleepy and Dopey. Renata stood behind Dopey. Queen Delightful next with Starchbottom close on her tail. They all were pushed forward by Shapeshifter who told them where to go. They had no say in the matter, neither did they want to speak. Their legs shook from fear, anticipating what terrible thing they would encounter next. They finally reached their destination, a creepy and cold jail cells.

"The Cells of Crimes..." Doc breathed as he was pushed into the cells.

"Yes, yes, yes... I was placed in these cells years ago, but now I can get revenge! Isn't that right, Bashful?"

Bashful eyed Shapeshifter with scorn. "What's your problem with Bashful? Leave him alone!" Doc tried yelling but it came out more as a raspy tone then anything threatening. Shapeshifter laughed.

"You won't be laughing for long when I create a machine that'll change your evil personality into something nice for once!" Doc yelped back again. Bashful placed a hand on Doc's shoulder.

Shapeshifter locked the cells. He then placed nine bowls of mush and nine bowls of plates through the cell bars. The plates had tiny pieces of chewy watermelon, but they were very small pieces and not nearly enough food to satisfy anyone.

Poor Renata couldn't stop crying from seeing her husband changed in front of her eyes. Knowing he was a part of this plan just ate her right up.

However, Happy didn't seem depressed. If anything he was quiet. He rubbed his mother's back and stared at the empty ground. Sleepy was confused by this and decided to talk to Happy.

"H-Happy?" Sleepy wiped his weary eyes, taking a seat next to Happy and his crying mother. "Aren't you sad?"

Happy's gaze didn't leave the floor. "A little."

"A little?!" Sleepy repeated. "Aren't you sad your BEST FRIEND DIE! Grumpy was your best friend... right?"

"Not really." Happy replied.

And for the rest of the night, all you could hear were soft whimpers and the trees whistle through the breeze.


	11. Hildy's Breaking Point

The villagers were very worried when Queen Delightful left to find Hildy, and to realize their Queen was to be replaced with Hildy, _**again**_ , bothered them even more.

The castle looked the same as it did when Queen Delightful left for the day. Goldilocks dusted off the gold throne, patting the red cushions to make them extra puffy. "Here you go, my Queen." Goldilocks bowed to Hildy, sucking up to her.

Hildy reluctantly sat down. She glanced over to her husband. Grim was standing next to her, but instead of being nervous as was Hildy, Grim was checking out the sparkly throne. The bright gold color glimmered along with the shiny blue floors.

"Grim? Why are you so impressed with this?" Hildy let out a slight chuckle. "You've seen the inside of the castle before..."

"But Hildy!" Grim interrupted, "It's extra bright in here! It's never been this clean! It's just so wonderful! I wanna live here forever!"

"I don't..." Hildy muttered aside, catching Goldilocks' attention.

"What was that, your majesty?" Goldilocks asked.

"Nothing..." Hildy hurriedly said.

Goldilocks shrugged, turning around, she quickly said, "Shapeshifter will arrive soon to congratulate you on being Queen!" And with that, she skipped out the castle.

Once the castle door's shut completely, Hildy responded with, "Yeah. And I'm sure he'll come here to trick me some more!"

Grim rushed over to his wife, rubbing her arm in a rhythmic motion. "Aww, Hildy my Wildy... what ever do you mean."

Hildy finally had enough. It felt as if everyone was against her. Shapeshifter and Goldilocks used her to trap Queen Delightful and the 6D, now causing Queen Delightful to hate her. Starchy probably despised her too. Grim keeps asking what's wrong with her, as if it wasn't obvious enough.

Hildy pounced off the throne, yanking her arm away from her husband. "Because I **DON'T WANT** to be Queen! I **DON'T want** to dethrone Queen Delightful! I **DON'T want** Shapeshifter and Goldilocks to control my actions, making me look like a bad guy! And I **DON'T want** to be in a relationship with someone as simple-minded, juvenile and aggravating as you!"

Grim was stunned. He took paces away from Hildy, the corners of his eyes had miniature tears building up, but he blinked them away, his eyes suddenly hardening and he crossed his arms in a childlike way. "I'm only trying to care for you..."

It was silent for some time, until Hildy felt like breaking into tears. She ran over to Grim, pulling him in for a big hug, perplexing him even more. "I'm sorry, Grim. I don't know what to do anymore!" She said, squeezing the life out of him. Grim nodded, shifting uncomfortably. He finally wrapped his arms around her, trying to calm her down.

"It's ok Hildy..." Grim whispered soothingly. "But... you're really confusing me... do you still love me, or what?"

Hildy giggled a bit, wiped her eyes she glanced back at her husband. "Of course I do Grimmy. I'm confused too. I want to save Queen Delightful, but I don't know what to do. Ever since I got that choker as a gift..." She paused. "Wait a minute... the choker! Where is it?! Have you had it this entire time?"

Grim let go of his love for a second, searching his overcoat pockets. When not finding anything, he shook his head to indicate "no". Hildy sighed, letting Grim cuddle her some more. "It's ok Grimmy. We'll find the choker." Her voice was raspy from crying. She rest her head on Grim's shoulder, laying a short kiss on his jawline. "I don't know how to stop Shapeshifter."

"Don't worry my delicious demon," Grim hummed sweetly in Hildy's ear, making her giggle. "If you want to help Queen Delightful, your wish is my command."

Grim hugged his wife from behind, spooning her in a soft motion to ease off the pain of the world.

"What exactly is the plan?"

Hildy smirked, snuggling closer to the warmth of Grim. "We play along. Shapeshifter and Goldilocks want me to feel bad. They want to push my buttons and toggle with my emotions. Maybe if we act like we don't care, like if we follow along with their plans we can trick them just like they've tricked us. It's not the best plan, but for right now, it's the only one we've got."

Grim nodded. "I like that plan."

They continued holding one other, Hildy kept her head on Grim's shoulder, sleepily cuddling. They swayed their bodies back and forth like a mother rocking a baby, just enjoying one's company. Suddenly, Grim began singing a charming song to Hildy.

"I was scared of dentists and the dark. I was scared of pretty girls and starting conversations..." when saying "pretty girls" he playfully nudges Hildy, and she lets out a soft giggle. "...all my friends are turning green. You're the magician's assistant in their dream."

Hildy began humming along in the background while Grim continued singing; "Ooh-ooh-oh. Oh-oh-ooh-ooh, and they come unstuck."

They soon began performing a duet. "Lady, running down to the riptide. Takin' away to the dark side. I wanna be your left hand man. I love you, when you're singin' that song... and... I gotta lump in my throat, 'cause you're gonna sing the words wrong."

Grim spun Hildy around in a dizzy yet cute spin. He then dipped her down, kissing her on the lips. She chuckled, and hand-in-hand, they walked through the slippery royal hallways, headed to the nearest guest room to get some well desired rest.


End file.
